Shades of Grey
by lalalalala9
Summary: Due to a strange book, Bankotsu is finding himself stuck with his supposed enemy. But as they learn more about Naraku's plan and try to escape the strange world they're in, Bankotsu's beginning to find that Kagome might not be so bad after all.
1. Just really bad karma, I think not

AN: Yes, I'm back, with a new story. This one's going to turn out much better than my old one, I promise.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters.

* * *

"Bye, mom! I'll be back soon!" Kagome called from over her shoulder. She had just finished packing all the essentials for the Feudal Era, plus extra ramen for Inuyasha and toys for Shippo.

"Just be careful there, ok?" Her mother's caring voice asked from the door frame of their house. Most moms would have never let their daughter time travel, but Kagome's mom knew that there was a good reason why her daughter was pulled down that well. It was all fate.

"I will be. Oh and thanks for the crayons, I'm sure Shippo will love them!" And with that she disappeared down the well, allowing the blue light to completely envelop her.

"That Kagome…" Her mother trailed off before going off to wake Souta up and prepare breakfast for the family.

Kagome smiled while the well took it's time transporting her to the past. Life really had become better for them all. Inuyasha had been seeing Kikyo less and less and he and Kagome were closer than ever with each other. And she was almost certain Miroku and Sango would make a breakthrough soon. They had an okay amount of jewel shards, and they had a decent lead on Naraku. Yes, overall life was really taking a turn for the best.

Climbing up the ladder of the well, amber eyes greeted her. "There you are, I was about to come and get you."

"Good to see you too, Inuyasha." Kagome muttered while looking around for Shippo.

"Hey, where's Shippo?" She asked, thoroughly scanning their surroundings.

"The little brat took off to go with Miroku." Inuyasha said while giving her a hand to help her up.

"Thanks. I'm afraid Miroku's having a bad influence on him. Before we know it, he'll be asking women to bear his children." Kagome laughed.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, hurry up and make us lunch." He ordered, before taking off to the hut they were staying in.

Kagome rolled her eyes and proceeded to slowly walk after him.

"I know. It's true. Shippo is destined to be Miroku's successor. "

Kagome and Sango laughed, sharing jokes and telling stories. That was what they would often due while cooking everyone's lunch. Normally Kaede would do it, but if she wasn't there or they were out finding jewel shards, it was up to those two. Miroku was busy meditating, really he was just pretending though; he was listening to the two girls' conversations.

"What kind of ramen sounds good to you? Chicken or Shrimp?" Kagome asked while reaching into her bag and pulling out all of the ramen.

"We had shrimp yesterday, let's go with chicken." Sango said while checking the water. "It's boiling,"

Kagome nodded her head in understanding. Wordlessly putting the packets into the pot, she then disposed of all her wrappers.

Just then Inuyasha ran into the small house. "Is the food done?"

"Be patient Inuyasha, it'll be done soon."

"Hurry it up. We don't have time to be waiting. We need to find Naraku."

"It should be done cooking in a few minutes, okay?" Kagome then continued on cooking as if nothing had happened.

After waiting roughly five minutes, she took the pot and poured the contents into a bowl. "Here you go, Inuyasha." She handed the steaming bowl of noodles to said half demon. He quickly took the noodles and began swallowing down the ramen with alarming speed.

"Sango, do you want to go to the hot springs with me?" Kagome asked out of politeness. She knew all too well that Sango would turn her down.

"No, I just bathed yesterday, maybe tomorrow." Sango replied while stirring her sill cooking ramen.

Kagome packed up her supplies and shut her backpack. "Bye Inuyasha, I'm going to take a bath, I'll see you in a little while." Kagome hollered while hoisting the large yellow bag onto her back.

"Be careful, Kagome! You don't want to run into the Shichinintai." Sango warned the teenager, looking up from the ramen she was cooking for Miroku and herself.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Kagome assured, walking out of the hut. Oh yes, the Band of Seven. They were still around. Kagome shivered just thinking about them, especially the leader, Bankotsu.

"Feh, whatever, just be back soon. I don't want to have to come looking for you." Inuyasha muttered while slurping up his ramen.

Kagome rolled her eyes, but smiled. She knew that that was Inuyasha's strange way of telling her he cared. After being around him for nearly a year, she had become very successful in reading in-between the lines, something necessary when dealing with the half demon.

'Now where is that hot spring Sango and I discovered last night?' Kagome thought to herself, straining to remember if they had gone north or west.

Choosing west, Kagome began to let her thoughts take control of her body. 'Too bad Sango only likes to bathe every few days, or else I would ask her to come.' Sango and the others generally followed a three to four day bathing schedule, while Kagome felt insanely filthy if she skipped even a day.

"Oh, there it is!" Kagome cheerfully rejoiced, thankful she had actually chose the right direction, if she hadn't, Kagome was certain that she would have spent hours trying to get back to the location of the village. 'I can't wait to take a nice, long, relaxing soak.'

After taking a stress-relieving bath, Kagome made her way towards where Inuyasha and the others were staying. Peering inside the small hut, Kagome expected to receive a warm welcome from her friends, but instead, Kagome entered an empty hut. 'That's strange; I wonder where they could be. Maybe Kaede would know.'

Sighing, she took off to look for Kaede. After searching through the village, she found her in the last place she had figured she would be."

"Kaede! There you are. I have been looking all over for you. You were in the last place I thought to look!" Kagome said while sprinting towards the fields where Kaede was helping some men with the field preparations.

"I have been here the whole time, child. What is it ye need?" Kaede asked, standing up from the field.

"Do you need any help?"

"That will not be necessary. I had just finished, now what is it you wanted?" Kaede answered, it was evident that she was tired by the way her voice lagged on.

"Have you seen Inuyasha or anyone else for that matter?"

"I'm afraid I have not. Although I did indeed see Shippo playing with some young girls in the village, but I believe the others left."

'Shippo's turning into quite the ladies man.' She remarked to herself as a side note.

"Oh," Kagome looked upset. 'Why didn't they tell me?'

Kaede, sensing Kagome's distress, reassured the girl. "Do not worry; I am sure they will be back soon. They probably just did not want to disturb you."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm worrying over nothing. I guess I'll go look in the village to see if they're back yet." Kagome stated, taking off in the direction of the village.

Trekking through the village, Kagome ran up to every villager she had seen, asking if they had any idea of her friends' whereabouts. All of their answers were the same, no. Only one young girl had said that they thought she might have seen them in the forest.

Now Kagome was bored, no bored was an understatement, she would rather be fighting a demon, by herself. She couldn't find her friends anywhere even after searching for nearly two hours and now she was on some wild goose chase into the forest. And with her luck, she most likely would run into the Band of Seven.

'Where did they go off to?' She thought anxiously. She had already asked Kaede and she had been no major help. And after combing through the village and asking nearly everyone, she went towards the forest.

'I don't understand why they wouldn't have told me. At least Sango or Miroku would have thought to make sure that I knew where they were if they thought they were going to be gone for a while.'

Kagome stopped herself. 'I'm being so selfish, what if they're hurt or they had another encounter with the Band of Seven. Or maybe one of them got trapped in a cave, or Miroku's wind tunnel got scratched. Kagome, you stop right now, or before you know it, you'll be flipped out over what's probably nothing.'

Then she suddenly she stumbled over something, causing her to temporarily forget about her friends. "What's that?" She whispered to herself.

Picking the offending object up, she noticed immediately how heavy the book was. It was very thick but small and strangely, the binding was much like the books in her time, something she hadn't thought she'd see around Feudal Japan. There was a lot of damage though, and the writing style seemed to be even more primitive than this time. The paper inside seemed to be modern also, confusing the girl.

'It's not mine; I wonder how it got here. I _am_ the only one from the present, right?'

While pondering the possibilities, she gazed over the cover. There were beautiful letters that made up the title in gold with leaves bordering the edges. It was difficult to read, due to the elegant writing, but after much strain Kagome found it read, _Passageway_. She then flipped through the pages.

The text inside was beautifully illustrated. Each letter looked as if it took an hour to make. It had to have been done by a professional calligraphist.

"I don't understand, it looks like it could be one thousand years old, but the way it's made, it could be from my time. In this era they still used scrolls, I thought." Kagome continued to flip through the books contents, mumbling phrases.

Kagome sat down on the grass and started reading, so absorbed in the book that little did she know that a certain mercenary was watching her. Not even sensing the jewel shards in his neck and halberd.

Bankotsu crept up in the bushes. Careful not to make a sound, although he figured it was probably in vain, as she was able to sense the jewel shards in his neck.

The Shichinintai had agreed to spilt up for a week to try and kill off all of Naraku's enemies.

* * *

"Big brother? Do we have a set time before we have to have all of his enemies killed?" Renkotsu asked while they were eating dinner.

"I don't think so, but he said that we must kill them soon. But don't worry about it you guys." Bankotsu answered hesitantly, he didn't want any of his brothers to worry about anything. He figured they should just enjoy their time on Earth. They had got a one in a million second chance.

"Well, maybe we should split up." Suikotsu suggested. He wanted to get the job done as soon as possible, and Naraku's enemies were scattered all over the place. Splitting up temporally would be the best option.

"That's a good idea." Bankotsu said approvingly.

"I want to go fight Inuyasha!" Jakotsu shouted happily.

"Not so loud." Renkotsu grumbled.

"Gesh," Ginkotsu agreed.

"No, I'll go take on Inuyasha." Bankotsu stated, polishing off the rest of his food.

"Aw, why? I never get to fight with him." Jakotsu objected and pouted.

"Jakotsu." The way Bankotsu said that, Jakotsu immediately shut up, reminding Renkotsu why he was the leader.

'Big Brother may seem stupid, but he does have remarkable leadership skills.' He thought. He soon jumped on top of Ginkotsu and begun to upgrade him, Inuyasha had messed up a few things during their last battle, although nothing too bad.

"Jakotsu, how about you go with Suikotsu." Bankotsu recommended.

"Who will we be fighting?" Jakotsu asked hesitantly, hoping that he would get a cutie to fight.

"Sesshomaru."

"Isn't that Inuyasha's older brother?"

"Yes," Bankotsu responded.

"Good, maybe he'll have dog ears, too." Jakotsu then began to imagine just what the demon might look like.

"Don't get your hopes up, from what Kohaku tells me, he's full demon. Nobility too." Bankotsu told the cross dresser, effectively bursting his bubble.

"You mean he's a demon lord?" Suikotsu questioned, "How strong is he?"

"Don't worry. I am confident you and Jakotsu can take him. You will be able to take him, correct?"

"Yes Big Brother," Suikotsu answered, indicating that he was fine with the task.

"Good, now Renkotsu, Ginkotsu, I want you guys to go after Koga. Naraku wants us to take his two jewel shards in his legs."

"Gesh," Ginkotsu said, pleased with the thought of working with Renkotsu. Ginkotsu and Renkotsu had become fast friends as soon as the two met each other.

"Of course," Renkotsu said, not looking up from his repairs on the machine.

"And I'll take on Inuyasha." Bankotsu said, lifting his Banryuu into the air.

"Right," Jakotsu sighed, not thrilled about losing yet another chance to fight with the half demon.

"Don't worry, Jakotsu. I'm sure you'll get your chance." Suikotsu told the mercenary in an effort to cheer him up.

"You're right. Then I'll cut him all up, and he'll scream as I cut off his pretty little ears and he'll be begging for me…"

Renkotsu visibly cringed as Jakotsu went into fantasy mode. Something he had been doing every time he thought about Inuyasha. Although Bankotsu found it hilarious, Renkotsu had a very different opinion about the matter.

"I'm sure he will. Let's meet up here in one week. I'll see you guys then." Bankotsu smirked over his shoulder, and with that, he left to go find the half demon.

* * *

Yes, by now Ginkotsu and Renkotsu should have been meeting up with Koga, as long as he was still where Naraku said he was last, at the base of the barrier. That would be perfect. Ginkotsu could hide behind the barrier and shoot him and if that didn't work out, they might be able to force him into it, purifying him.

Suikotsu and Jakotsu still had a ways to go before they would meet up with Sesshomaru. Hopefully, that would all go well, too.

'Inuyasha's wench? Shouldn't she have sensed my shards by now? What is she holding? It looks kind of like a scroll.' Bankotsu wondered while looking at the young priestess, preparing to attack. But he stopped suddenly when he heard her read aloud; curious as to what she was reading.

"Two people from different worlds

Paths cross in a never ending struggle

Destiny forever intertwined

The man who cheated death must save a world far from his own

The girl who appeared out of nowhere must betray the people she loves

And overcome their boundaries

In order for peace to be made"

Kagome reread the words, "Hmm, I wonder what that means. Sounds like a prophecy of sorts. Wait, I sense the jewel shards! How could I pay so little attention to my surroundings?"

'Hmm, so the girl finally realized I'm here.' Bankotsu thought, gripping his sword to strike.

Stopping both of them, the book lifted itself into the air and started to glow a purple color, causing Kagome to gasp.

'What did I do?' She thought frantically, staring at the ornate book with wide eyes.

Then her body was overcome in a strange scarlet tinted light. 'What's happening? Suddenly I feel so tired; I can't keep my eyes open…'

At the same time Bankotsu had started to glow a brilliant shade of blue. 'What the hell? What did that girl do? I'm going to kill her…'

Then a blinding purple light flashed over the scene and with that they vanished with the book.

Sango witnessed the whole exchange. She had gone after Kagome to tell her where they had gone since Kaede said she had been looking for them. But she noticed Bankotsu and decided to watch for a moment to see what he was going to do.

"Kagome!" Sango shouted anxiously, worried about what was happening to her friend, especially since the same thing was happening to the mercenary behind her.

Running up to the girl who had now passed out, she tried to grab her, but she disappeared into thin air. Then a sheet fell from the sky, although the majority of the book had disappeared with the two.

'This looks like part of the book Kagome was reading from.' Sango noticed before picking up the torn page.

'Kagome, please be safe. Wherever you went, I am almost certain Bankotsu is there, too.' Sango took off to go get the others. Inuyasha would be angry, Shippo would probably be really scared for the priestess and crying and Miroku would sit quietly, something he would always do when he was worried. Maybe Kaede could explain things.

"Just be safe Kagome…" She whispered, not knowing what Bankotsu might do to her.


	2. Maybe it was fate?

AN: Hey guys it's me, I returned from the dead! No, really, sorry I left you all hanging their. My computer has a massive virus issue right now, to the point where it won't let me on, so just don't except many updates until I get it fixed, okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or it's characters.

* * *

"Huh? Where am I?" Kagome whispered to herself. Taking in her surroundings, Kagome noticed that they appeared to be in some sort of hut. Her eyes then averted to the rest of the room. There was a plate of rice next to the thick door with two cups of water. She seemed to be on some sort of thick futon. She then looked next to her, where there was a futon identical of her own. Lying on it was Bankotsu, with his halberd lying right next to him.

Kagome shrieked and back away, startling the sleeping mercenary. "What the hell!" He shouted, scrambling up from the futon.

"Wench! Where are we?" He yelled, making Kagome flinch back.

"How do you think I know? And my name's Kagome!"

"Well then, _Kagome_, you're the one who had that book." Bankotsu accused, putting emphasis on her name.

"That book!" Kagome shouted, suddenly remembering yesterday afternoon's events. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Bankotsu asked, looking around the room, probably doing what Kagome had been doing just minutes ago.

"The _book_," Kagome answered, putting her face in her palm. 'This is hopeless.'

"Oh, why didn't you say so? I don't know, you're the one who had it."

"Great, I just have the strangest feeling that was our only ticket home." Kagome moaned.

Someone opened the door. "Good, you two are awake." A kind voice said, entering the room.

Bankotsu grabbed the lady around her neck. "Where are we? How did we get here?"

Seeing this, Kagome became alarmed. "Bankotsu! Don't kill her; she can't answer us if she's dead!"

'She's got a point. 'Bankotsu dropped her on the ground.

"Do you know where we are?" Kagome asked, helping the women up.

"Of course, you guys are in Japan." The lady responded, dusting off her kimono.

"Where in Japan?" Bankotsu questioned.

"In a village right next to Inuyasha's forest, I am sure you've heard of the demon."

"Wait, demon?" Kagome shouted, maybe it was just a mistake, she meant half demon.

"As soon as he started working for Naraku, he turned him into a full demon."

Kagome fell over from shock. "What?"

"Everyone knows that, dear, are you sure that you are from around here?" The women responded with worry in her voice.

'She's crazy! I know it!' Kagome's mind was frantically telling herself.

"How did we get here, women?" Bankotsu's angry voice prodded.

"You fell out of the sky." She answered, as if was an everyday occurrence.

'She acts like that's normal. She's definitely crazy.' Kagome thought to herself, not knowing Bankotsu was thinking something along the lines of that.

"Huh?' Bankotsu questioned, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Yes, you both fell out of the sky two days ago. I decided to take you here, although I needed four men to carry your weapon." She responded dully, as if bored by their presence.

Hearing that it took four men, made a since of pride bubble up inside Bankotsu. He loved the fact that only he was strong enough to lift the weapon, something he had worked quite hard on.

"Are you both hungry?" The women carried on. "Oh! Please forgive me, my name is Risa. I am the village headman's daughter.

"I'll pass." Bankotsu replied, against his stomach's wishes. There was no way he was going to eat some food prepared by a stranger.

"I would love some." Kagome muttered, still not comprehending the fact that this Risa girl said that Inuyasha was evil.

"Good, if you eat it and don't die. I'll know it's safe." Bankotsu remarked.

Kagome huffed, choosing to ignore the mercenary instead of responding to such a stupid insult. Reaching for the chopsticks laying beside the small bowl, she slowly popped a grain of rice into her mouth. Smiling in satisfaction, she continued to eat the rice.

"Do you have any idea why we're here?" Kagome wondered, hoping that the lady was crazy or this was all just a dream, or both would be fine.

"I don't know, maybe the miko up north could help you. She's the last of her kind. I hear she's really-" Risa was cut off by Kagome.

"What do you mean last her kind? Last priestess?"

The women nodded her head.

"But _I'm _a priestess." Kagome protested.

'The rice looked safe,' Bankotsu thought, not even listening to the two girl's conversation. 'I guess it can't hurt to have just a little.'

"And stay out!" The women shouted, pushing Kagome out of the door.

Bankotsu looked at her with a perplexed expression on his face.

"You two! Go, hurry! My father would kill me, so nothing personal. But GO!" Risa shouted, going on a rampage about how she could not have those two in her house.

"Okay women, no need to yell." Bankotsu grumbled while lifting his Banryuu over his shoulder and shutting the door behind him.

Risa looked relieved. "That was close! I can't believe I let those two into my house. I should have seen it coming, what with falling from the sky and all."

Outside of the hut Bankotsu and Kagome looked around. "The well!" Kagome shouted happily while running towards it.

"What's so great about a well?" Bankotsu asked rudely. "Are you crazy, too?"

Kagome glared at him. "No, the well's my way home. Where everything should make sense again."

Flipping over the edge, Kagome didn't think she needed an extra breath of air. That was a mistake.

'The well, there's water in it!' Kagome thought as she unwillingly took in a breath of the liquid.

"What a stupid wench. Must be why she's in love with that mutt." Bankotsu remarked to himself as he watched her drown.

Bankotsu walked away, not really wanting to see her die, but stopped. 'Damn! Why do I suddenly get a conscious now of all times. I'm not helping the enemy.'

He could hear her chocking and trying desperately to get to the surface of the deep well. Against his better judgment, he went back.

'I know I'm going to regret this.' He thought as he pulled the girl up from the surface, where she was struggling to stay.

He watched as she coughed up water and filled her lungs with air.

Kagome took one last full breath of air as she watched the mercenary leave. She stood there for a few seconds, not sure if she should go after him or not. 'He saved my life; maybe's he's not so bad after all.'

Kagome shook her head, 'Of course he is. I mean he's working for Naraku.'

'Still I should go after him. He's all I have in this strange world.' And with that Kagome took off in the direction Bankotsu headed.

"Bankotsu wait!" Kagome shouted, trying desperately to catch up to him. Bankotsu speed up even faster.

Kagome jumped on his back. "Get off of me!"

"Then stop!" Kagome said jumping down from his back.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You wouldn't stop."

"Well what do you want?" He bit out impatiently.

"Thanks for saving me." Kagome mumbled.

"Are you done?"

"Hey! Listen, we're in some strange world-"

"I doubt it. The women were just insane."

"As I was saying… You and I are both alone, why don't we have a truce, just until we can get back."

"I don't think so." Bankotsu said before turning around.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you. You're annoying. And I'm sure that once I find Jakotsu and the others they tell me that the women was crazy." Bankotsu stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but what will you do if she was telling the truth?" Kagome asked, trying to reason with the stubborn mercenary.

"But she wasn't."

"Denial."

"I am not in denial." He grumbled, continuing to walk the other way.

"Bankotsu, we flew up into the air, caused by a book. Inuyasha is supposedly a demon, the well is an actual well and that did not look like Kaede's village." Kagome stated.

Bankotsu hated to admit it, but the wench was telling the truth.

"Fine, you can travel with me, but only if you don't talk. And if we find a way to get back, or find out this was just some joke, we go our separate ways. Deal?"

"Of course, why would I want to be around you more than necessary?" Kagome answered, agreeing.

"Same here," He muttered. 'Damn, what if this isn't some joke? How do we plan on getting back?'

"So what should we do?" Kagome questioned.

"I don't know. And I thought I told you not to talk!" Bankotsu complained.

Kagome brushed him off, "Why don't we try and find that priestess that the girl was talking about. If she's as wise as Risa told us, she probably knows what's going on."

"When did she say she was wise?" Bankotsu questioned.

"It was when you were wrapped up in debating whether you should eat or not." Kagome muttered rolling her eyes.

Bankotsu glared at her. 'It's not like I've had anything to eat in the last day.'

"Fine, let's go see some stupid miko." Bankotsu compromised.

"What do you have against priestesses?"

"They're annoying." Bankotsu remarked, "Now, let's go."

Kagome nodded and followed him. 'I'm not too thrilled about traveling with him. But, I figure it will be best, we're alone in a strange world. I don't think that lady was crazy. This world is different, I'm certain, similar, yet different. Still, he doesn't have to be such a jerk!'

"Look? Are you going to come, or not?" Bankotsu called impatiently.

Kagome noticed that he was nearly out of eye sight and sprinted towards him. "I'm coming!"

"So, where do you think she lives?" Kagome wondered aloud.

"How should I know?" Bankotsu grounded out with annoyance.

"Well, Risa said she lived sort of near the mountains up north." Kagome said, trying to ignore his rude comments and have a decent conversation with him, which was proving to be very difficult.

"Then how about we go towards the mountains up north." Bankotsu reasoned, the girl was constantly getting on his nerves.

"Sounds good to me!"

Bankotsu resisted the urge to smack his head in a tree. Kagome was so strange, she would get some mad at him one minute and return to her happy demeanor the next.

"Are you hungry?" Kagome asked after a few minutes of silence.

'Could have sworn I told her not to talk in the first place.' He thought idly. "No, why?"

"You look hungry. Plus I'm hungry and I ate earlier, so you must be starving."

"Maybe just a little." He admitted begrudgingly.

"Okay, good thing I my backpack came with me. It would be terrible if I didn't have it with me." Kagome babbled on.

"What are you talking about, that thing on your back?"

"Yeah, it holds all my stuff in it, including all of the food." 'It can't hurt to at least try and show some hospitality.'

Bankotsu stared at her as if she had grown another head. "What kind of food do you have?"

"Ramen," Kagome said, forgetting that he had no idea what the noodles were.

When she saw the funny look on his face, Kagome immediately explained. "They're noodles. They taste really good."

Bankotsu watched as Kagome began to start a fire with some strange mechanical object and heat up the noodles.

Bankotsu stared at the food skeptically.

"Don't worry, they're not poisonous." Kagome laughed. "Why would I kill you anyway, you're the only familiar person here."

What she said _did_ make sense. What would she gain from killing off the only person who could fend off the demons? Plus, if they were in another world, he would be the only person that she sort of knew in an alien world.

"Fine, but if it's poisoned, I'll kill you."

Kagome laughed and set a bowl down on his lap and handed him a pair of chopsticks.

"Look, I'm having some, too. It's safe." Kagome said while setting down with a bowl on the opposite side of the fire.

Eventually, Bankotsu's stomach got the better of him. The way his face lit up with joy (something that seemed to happen to everyone who ate ramen) made Kagome smile.

"What are you smiling at?"

"I'm just glad you like it, is all."

"Where did you get this stuff?" He asked, breaking the silence that had irrupted between them while they were focusing on the meal.

"You saw me get it out, from my bag." Kagome answered quickly.

"You know what I mean." Bankotsu ground out.

"It's from the well; I don't _have_ to tell you anything else." Kagome retorted, putting their bowls away with a little too much pressure.

"I can kill you."

"But you _wouldn't_."

"And just why wouldn't I?" Bankotsu asked, grabbing her wrist.

"Ow, let go! Hate to break it to you, but I stopped finding you scary the minute you tripped over that stick."

"Then quit trying my patience. I will not put up with you. And shut up, like you've never tripped, Miss Klutz." Bankotsu threatened before letting go of her wrist.

'I'm alone with some jerk in some world that I don't know anything about. Fate must hate me.' Kagome thought, willing for the tears that had begun to form in her eyes to go away.

'I shouldn't have been so hard on her.' Bankotsu reflected on the events of the last day. 'But still, she needs to learn.'

Seeing that Kagome was finished cleaning up, he stood up.

"Let's go," He ordered icily.

Kagome followed, not in the mood to fight with him again. He scared her when he was mad; she knew all too well that he could kill her in the blink of an eye.

'I keep telling myself this better than nothing, but I'm not sure it is. I mean sure, he's a jerk, but at times he's not that bad. But he won't believe me and he's so ungrateful, it's not like I had to make him food. Still, this must be better than nothing…' She trailed off her rant in her head.

'I hate to admit it, but it would be best if we stuck together for now, especially if this is real, which I'm beginning to suspect.'

After walking north for an hour, Kagome decided to ask what had been on her mind since they had came here.

"What are we going to do?"

"Huh?" Bankotsu looked at the priestess; she hadn't talked the whole time they were walking.

"If this is some other world. How are we going to get back?"

Bankotsu thought for a moment. "I… I have no clue."

"Well then come on! We have to find that priestess! Hurry up," Kagome ordered and started taking huge strides.

Bankotsu was secretly glad that she had regained some of her exuberance, although he would deny it if asked.

"I said move it!" She called over her should once she realized that Bankotsu wasn't walking with her.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Bankotsu shouted, playing along, before catching up to her.

Kagome smiled, trying her best to forget about the situation and pretend that she wasn't with her enemy.

Two hours later the sun was setting. "We should set up camp now."

"Probably," Bankotsu mumbled, still deep in thought. He was thinking what Kagome had been wondering about. Just how did they intend to get back? He'd bet money that that dumb book probably had something to do with it. To bad that it was nowhere to be found and might as well be on the other side of Japan.

"What sounds good to you?" Kagome asked.

"What?" He asked, completely missing the question.

"Do you want rice? We shouldn't waste all the ramen up, since I'll probably never go home again," Kagome said, feeling defeated. She was never going to see her friends again, or her family.

"Yeah, rice is fine. Quit being so sad, it's weird. Where's your abnormally cheery, optimistic self?" Bankotsu told her in an effort to make her feel better."She's on vacation."

"Tell her to come back then."

Kagome sighed while cooking the rice. She was trying, she really was. It was just so hard to be in a good mood when there was a possibility that you would never see Inuyasha again. 'No! Don't think that, Kagome!' She scolded herself for thinking the worse.

Suddenly a tentacle zoomed past Kagome, missing by just an inch.

A dark form appeared before them. "Naraku!" Kagome shouted, wishing more than anything she had her bow at the moment.

"So you do know who I am, maybe it is true after all." Naraku spoke, every word dripping with malice.

"What's true, tell us!" Bankotsu demanded, lifting his halberd and preparing for battle.

"So you must be Bankotsu. You are as rude as they say," Naraku said lashing his tentacles in all directions.

"Damn it!" He cursed, dodging the flying appendages. "Go hide,"

"No, I want to help!"

"You're useless right now, go!" Bankotsu told the stubborn miko who was hell-bent on staying with him.

Seeing a tentacle coming towards Kagome, he ran towards her, and picked her up.

"Put me down!" She shrieked.

"Damn women! Stay here, I don't need you getting killed." Bankotsu said before running towards Naraku full speed with his halberd ready for attack.

Kagome gasped as she watched Bankotsu run right through him.

"That jewel does come in handy, doesn't it? Of course, you should know the full affects of the jewel, seeing as that is what gives you life." Naraku taunted.

Bankotsu kept slashing Naraku's form again and again, although each time his sword went right through him. "Why can't I hit you?" He demanded.

"I already told you, and I do hate to repeat myself." Naraku answered.

"Just what kind of answer is that?"

Naraku faded out into the darkness, the same way he arrived.

"Are you alright?" Kagome asked, coming out from the forest where she was forced to hide.

"I'm fine? What about you? You could have been killed, idiot!" Bankotsu turned his anger to Kagome.

"It's not like you care," She mumbled under her breath.

"You're right, I don't. You can just die for all I care!" Bankotsu shouted, turning around and crossing his arms.

"Fine," Kagome retorted and picked up her backpack and walked away.

Inside Bankotsu was experiencing a turmoil of emotions. 'That was harsh. So? That girl had it coming. All she does is get in the way, anyways.'

Just then, he heard her scream and not thinking, took off running towards the sound.


	3. Of Spiders and Demons

AN: This chapter is shorter than the others have been, sorry, but I wanted to leave it where I did. I would love some feedback, by the way. I want to know what you guys think of this story.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. Never have, and most likely never will.

* * *

Kagome's shrill cries of help were pounding through Bankotsu's ears. 'That damn wench, she's more trouble then she's worth.' He though angrily while watching the trees pass by him in a blur.

His heart was pounding loudly in his chest, so he slowed his pace. If a demon had attacked like he suspected, it wouldn't do him good to use up all his energy getting there. It wasn't as if he had unlimited stamina.

'I could just leave her. Life would be a lot easier.' He dwelled on that while running. 'No, even though I would travel more ground and get more things done, I'm sure she has something to do with this. She might be my only way home, as much as I hate to admit it.'

Meanwhile Inuyasha had zoomed in on Kagome. She was his pray and there was no way she was going to get away.

"Inuyasha…?" Kagome asked uneasily, knowing he was in his demon form due to his wild stance.

"What of it?" Inuyasha asked sharply. His red eyes glared at Kagome.

"Sit boy," Kagome whispered softly. He was still too far away to see if his beads were on him. She could only pray that they were.

"And just what was that suppose to do?" Inuyasha growled while sprinting towards her.

Kagome gasped, he was going to kill her if she didn't act soon. She didn't have any arrows with her, or a bow for that matter. There had to be a way to snap him out of it. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.

"If you want, I can give you a five second head start." The demon grinned evilly, his voice laced with hatred and his eyes burned from an unspoken loathing.

Kagome's eyes fixed themselves on Inuyasha's feral ones. "Huh?"

"5"

Kagome figured now was not the time to ask questions. She ran as fast as her legs would allow. Her legs pumped while she stumbled across the forest floor.

"4"

'Inuyasha's going to kill me.' She thought while struggling to breath, the air burned in her lungs. 'No, he's not Inuyasha. I refuse to call him that, he's a monster.'

"3"

Kagome desperately tried to speed up, but her legs were running at full force.

"2"

'This is it; I'm going to die here.' Kagome cringed at the thought of dying by Inuyasha's hands.

"1"

In a blink of an eye, Inuyasha caught up to Kagome. "Too slow." He chuckled. Quickly, he punched Kagome in the gut, making her come to a halt as she doubled over in pain.

"Oh come on! I barely touched you."

Kagome tried to gain her footing, breathing deeply. She bit back a sob. That punch really hurt. He said he had gone easy on her, and Kagome was scared of what all of his strength would do to her.

He kicked her, sending her flying across the forest, causing her to hit her head on a large tree.

"Now for some real fun." Inuyasha growled while smirking, unsheathing Tetsusaiga.

Kagome cowered in fear. Her head was killing her; she would not be surprised if she had a concussion. 'How's he using his sword?' She questioned to herself, but didn't waste time dwelling on it.

He managed to create a huge gash on her leg, but Kagome didn't notice. She was already out cold.

'Where is she?' Bankotsu wondered, racing through the forest. Just how far into the small forest, were they? The forest was small yes, but it was still big enough that he could spend hours searching in it.

He then found Kagome lying against a tree, lumped in an awkward position. He then saw Inuyasha, who looked ready to cut Kagome into pieces with his sword.

Bankotsu lunged at Inuyasha, his sword pointed at his neck.

Inuyasha dodged it with relative ease. "Feh, that the best you got. You must be Bankotsu."

"At least you know the name of the person who's going to kill you. Dragon Thunder!"

Inuyasha dodged his string of attacks once again.

The demon spun around and swiped at him with his sword. There was not any skill behind the lunge, which made Bankotsu think he was just using his instincts to fight. He was able to mostly avoid the attack, although the end of the blade nicked at his arm.

Bankotsu hissed in pain.

'He's faster than usual. It is to be expected, he _is_ a demon now. But he can actually out run my lightning.' Bankotsu's weapon crashed against Inuyasha's, sending sparks from the impact.

'I'll just have to catch him off guard.' He thought to himself. He threw his blade in the air, watching as the demon was transfixed by it. Bankotsu took this opportunity to land a bunch to Inuyasha's jaw, sending him backwards.

'Knew it, he is surviving on instincts alone.' "I would have figured you be smarter than that, Inuyasha," Bankotsu smirked; enjoying Inuyasha's pissed-off reaction.

"What did you just say?" Inuyasha shouted, feral-sounding.

"All brawns and no brain." Bankotsu remarked casually. He then twirled his sword into the air and fired lightning bolts all around him.

Inuyasha, blinded by rage, ran towards him, not expecting a jolt of lightning to run through him. His left arm went momentarily numb.

Knowing he could not wield his sword, he made a hasty retreat. "Dammit, I'll be back again soon. Just you wait."

Bankotsu sighed at watched the demon disappear through the trees. "He'll be back soon."

He then turned to Kagome, who was watching from the tree.

'Stupid women, I'm sure now she'll expect me to take care of her. If she has a concussion like I suspect, it could be three weeks before she gets better.' Bankotsu slowly walked over to her, tired out from the battle. Although he would never admit that.

"How do you feel?" He asked emotionlessly.

Kagome groaned and rubbed her temples, not getting up from her spot she was situated in. "Killer headache, I feel like I'm going to vomit."

Bankotsu sighed, having a headache and being nauseous, most likely a concussion.

'Great, this sets us back.' Bankotsu thought sourly. He then gently lifted Kagome up.

"What are you doing?" She asked, alarmed, and then held her head. "Ugh, too high too fast."

"What does it look like?" Bankotsu snapped, continuing to walk through the woods, trying not to bump her. "You have a concussion and need rest. I don't think you'll like waking up surrounded by your own blood, and you're in no shape to walk."

Kagome nodded her head in understanding. That would definitely freak her out in the morning while she was disoriented. She just didn't see why Bankotsu would care. Sighing in defeat, she rolled into Bankotsu's chest, too tired to care, and fell asleep.

Bankotsu got to a reasonable spot ten minutes later. The area wasn't too big, there were a few scattered trees around, and he could vaguely hear a stream trickling by. He laid the girl down with surprising gentleness on the soft grass. That was why he had chosen this area; it was the only place in the woods that was covered with grass and not just dirt. He didn't want to take the chance of getting the priestess's wounds infected. That would waste even more time.

He felt around for a bump on her head, and cringed when he felt how big it was. It was bound to get even bigger. Yep, she would definitely feel bad in the morning. He then surveyed the rest of her head to see if there was any bleeding. There didn't appear to be any, which was good.

Bankotsu's attention then moved to her leg. It was badly torn up and blood was steadily pouring out of the gash. He frowned; he would have to find something to wrap that up with, it would surely become infected if he didn't.

'Should probably clean it, too.' Bankotsu thought bitterly. There was no way he would do this for her on normal circumstances, but the situations called for it. Still, he was definitely tempted to leave and let some weaker demons devour her. It wasn't in his nature to help anyone except his brother.

He bit his lip in concentration, trying to see if there was any way he could wrap her wounds without destroying one of their outfits. He probably shouldn't use the girls; it needed all the cloth it could get. And he certainly wasn't wasting his garments on _her _wounds. His thoughts wandered to her bag, he could recall her blabbering on and on about how it held all sorts of stuff. Maybe it had bandages!

Bankotsu took off, not thinking about leaving Kagome defenseless.

Deep on the other side of the forest, Bankotsu reached the backpack lying lonely on the ground. He slid it onto his shoulders as he had seen the miko do.

'Wow, it's pretty heavy. I'm surprised that she can carry that. She looks weak enough.' Putting it onto his back made it seem a lot less heavy though, he discovered.

It then occurred to him that he had just left a sleeping, injured girl alone in the woods at dusk. Perfect for a hungry demon. Bankotsu hurried back, the weight of supplies not even bothering him.

When he got there, the site was in a mess, there were scattered branches and Kagome was nowhere to be found.

Realization hit Bankotsu, "Dammit!" He shouted angrily, punching one of the trees in a way to vent his anger. He then saw a trail of Kagome's blood, pointing west. Things just were not going his way as of late.

Bankotsu blanched and sped off towards the west, the yellow backpack bouncing behind him. The trail ended abruptly. 'It just stops, why is that?'

Bankotsu took a step farther and crashed through the ground.

'A whole in the ground? A trap. Damn. I walked straight into a trap! How stupid can I be? I should know better!' Bankotsu landed on the ground with a soft thud, still silently scolding himself for doing something so stupid.

He saw a tunnel underground. Figuring this must be where Kagome probably was, he walked through the damp tunnel.

"I should just turn back right now, except I can't because I'm _ten feet underground_." Bankotsu grumbled, trying to see in the dim lighting. If he had any means of leaving the hole that didn't involve him attempting to climb smooth, prone-to-collapsing dirt, he would have.

He stopped walking after he reached the end. His eyes tried to readjust to the darkness; it was even darker in there then in the tunnel.

Bankotsu then walked inside. He halted abruptly when his foot became stuck in something. 'What is that? Is that spider web?' Bankotsu bent down and pulled the sticky stuff off his foot. It was indeed a spider web, the mercenary made a face at the realization.

His eyes had now become accustomed to the dark and he could see a figure wrapped in spider webs.

Bankotsu stepped over to the web, trying to avoid the smaller spider webs hanging all around him. He took his hands and tried to pull it open, grunting in frustration when it wouldn't loosen up.

The mercenary then pulled out his Banryuu and sliced open the web with ease. Kagome fell to the ground with a thud. 'So she was in there. How the hell is she still asleep?'

Bankotsu lifted the injured unconscious girl carefully. "Let's get out of here. I hate spiders."

Walking to the end of the tunnel, Bankotsu was stumped about how he suppose to get out of there. 'It'd be hard enough by myself, but with Inuyasha's wench…'

He stuck his Banryuu into the wall, watching the dirt fall to the ground, making the opening wider. Searching for a part of the dirt wall that was stable, he finally found a patch and placed his sword into the side.

It was stable, so Bankotsu used his sword to lift himself up. He dangled there for a few seconds before pulling himself up, and in an act of major balance, managed to actually stand on the handle of his weapon. All with one free hand. Grabbing the ledge, he sat Kagome on the ground above and used his spare hand to retrieve his halberd. If anyone had been watching they would have been amazed.

He then spun around to come face to face with a giant spider.

"How dare you take my snack away from me! Give me the girl and I might spare you." The spider demon said eerily while making its way towards Kagome.

"Not so fast!" Bankotsu shouted while pointing his sword at the spider demon. He was tired, he didn't have any demon blood in him, so he couldn't fight battle after battle without needing a break, and climbing up the cave had taken a lot out of him. Plus, he hated spiders.

The demon shot a string of web towards Bankotsu, only hitting his hand, and feeling like a feather had touched him.

"You think some measly spider web will defeat me?" Bankotsu questioned cockily.

The demon laughed. Bankotsu tried to brush the thin spider web off, but it wouldn't budge.

"What kind of web is this?" He asked, demanding answers. Try as he might, he could not just shake the damn thing off.

The web was beginning to spread, making a case around his fingers, causing them to lose their mobility. He was grateful he already had his weapon in his hand. "I've had enough of you!"

In one swift movement, he chopped the spider's head clear off, landing near the body with a thud.

Bankotsu desperately tried to slice the web off with his Banryuu, grateful that after a few slices it had finally slid off. The spider web had been growing at a tremendous rate even after the demon dissolved into ashes. By the time he managed to get it off, it was already over more than half his arm.

'Stupid women…' Bankotsu glanced at the girl whole was lying on the ground, breathing softly. She had tendrils of web still stuck in her hair, giving her a surreal look. Her lips were frowning, pouting as if someone hadn't given her what she wanted.

"How are you still asleep?" Bankotsu asked the sleeping figure in amazement. Maybe her head had been hit worse than he thought…

Without another thought, he readjusted the backpack on his right shoulder and picked Kagome up bridal style, not noticing the soft smile that had appeared on her face.


	4. A Look at the Normal World

AN: Sorry for the long wait, my computer had a huge virus. We took it in for over a month, and the person just ended up making it even worse... And then my MP3 player broke, and TV... I swear, everything I touch breaks. Anyways, I hope you like the chapter.

Disclaimer: Do I own Inuyasha? Of course not, I'm merely a humble fan.

* * *

Bankotsu huffed irritably. It was ridiculous; here he was a mercenary, a _killer_, taking care of some women. The women who bugged him to no end.

Of course don't get him wrong, she was pretty, beautiful even, but her tongue quickly made you forget all about that. Sure, he had annoyed her as well, but she owed him that much. It was revenge and funny as hell, too.

The women stirred in her sleep. Bankotsu watched for signs of awakening, and continued on when he received none.

'Probably exhausted.' Bankotsu thought while washing her leg with some water from the stream up ahead. He was grateful that the water was decently clean, or else he was afraid it would have done more harm than help.

'Trouble sure does follow her around.' It was true, in the short time he had really known her, so many bad things had already happened. She was so optimistic though, he was positive she would have just corrected him and called them, 'minor setbacks'.

Bankotsu couldn't blame her for being tired. He himself was almost falling asleep, taking pauses from cleansing Kagome's wounds to rest his eyes.

What startled him was that he was so tired. He was use to countless battles, sure not one after another, but he should have been able to handle two. Of course, he did miss a night of sleep, and traveling through books really could wear a person out.

Still, nonetheless Bankotsu felt he was losing his touch. As soon as he was finished with fixing the miko, he was going to go train.

The mercenary checked the bump on the girl's forehead and winced. It had definitely swelled since he last checked.

"Well, nothing I can do about that." Bankotsu muttered. "Had to go get into trouble, didn't ya?"

Bankotsu sighed, 'That's the best I can do.'

"I should go train now. Wait, what should I do with Inuyasha's wench?" Bankotsu glanced at the sleeping girl. "Screw it, I'll train later. Damn wench."

He was in no mood to train, although he really should. But then he would have to find a decent spot away from camp, wake up the women or lug her around and he was exhausted. It was not worth it no matter how badly he was in need of some training.

Bankotsu threw himself onto the ground with a thump. 'Oww… Why the hell didn't I just get down like a normal person?'

He situated himself about three feet away from Kagome. He then closed his eyes, immediately drifting into darkness.

Kagome awoke to birds chirping. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. The sun was high up in the sky and glaring down brightly at her.

After the brightness faded, she noticed a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Strong muscular arms…

Kagome stared at Bankotsu, his arms tightly wrapped around her. His mouth was cocked open just a tad and if the situation had differed Kagome would have giggled. He was so cute when he was asleep! Although when he was awake he was just annoying.

She then noticed that she had his hands around him as well. Quickly she moved them away, waking him.

Bankotsu's cobalt eyes bore into hers, after a minute he smirked. "So, was I good?"

"Huh?"

"You know, last night…" He trailed off.

Kagome looked at him blankly.

Bankotsu laughed. "Was I really boring enough for you to forget all about it? You sure _seemed_ to be having fun."

Suddenly realization hit Kagome like a bullet. Her eyes looked as if any minute they would pop out and her mouth hung wide open. Her face was also a brilliant shade of red.

"_What_?" She screeched. 'We didn't! I don't remember. But what if I for some reason forgot? I do have a concussion, maybe it- _what_?'

"No we didn't!" Kagome said, only somewhat certain.

Bankotsu laughed. "Sure did take you a minute to figure that out. Nope, sorry, only in your dreams."

"As if I would ever dream of _that_ with _you_." Kagome responded, her face reddening once more.

Kagome had actually dreamt that she was falling, but then all of a sudden a pair of arms grabbed her and rescued her. She assumed they were Inuyasha's but she couldn't remember anything besides that. Nothing like... _that_.

"Sure," Bankotsu said doubtfully. "As if I'd lower my standards anyway."

Kagome glared at him and rolled her eyes, trying to calm her face down to its normal color. 'Standards? That jerk.'

"Can you make us something to eat?" Bankotsu asked, finally sitting up.

Kagome huffed and turned her head slightly to the left. "Nope," 'There is absolutely no way I'm going to do something for that idiot.'

"Is that any way to treat the person who saved your life?"

Kagome said nothing.

"Don't ignore me! If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead." Bankotsu shouted angrily.

'Note to self: Bankotsu hates being ignored.' Kagome thought to herself, Bankotsu was glaring daggers at her. She gave in, not really in the mood to have a mercenary pissed off at her.

"Fine." Well, at least he _did_ ask. Unlike a certain Inuyasha.

Bankotsu tossed Kagome her bag. "Here,"

Her face lit up. "My bag! Did you go get it after…?" She trailed off.

Bankotsu nodded. He knew that the whole Inuyasha thing was going to be a touchy subject with her. He'd have to remember that in case she made him angry again.

"Wasn't worth all the trouble, either." He grumbled. Seriously, they would have been better off without it.

"Thanks," Kagome smiled, grateful that he could at least be somewhat considerate, occasionally.

Kagome got up shakily and tripped, scraping her already cut leg. "Oww," She muttered, tears forming at her eyes.

Bankotsu huffed. "Look at what you did. Your bandages are torn. How'd you manage to _trip_?"

It would have seemed like a mother scolding a child to a random passerby.

The young mercenary went over to Kagome and examined her leg.

"That's just great. I have to clean and bandage that again." Bankotsu muttered irritably.

Kagome sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean to trip."

"Well, obviously."

Kagome crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance. She said sorry, he didn't have to be rude. Kagome was sure anyone else would have understood. Jerk.

Bankotsu reached into Kagome's backpack and pulled out more gauze.

"Let me do it." Kagome said, and then he'd have nothing to complain about.

Bankotsu didn't answer, just threw the gauze at Kagome. Luckily, she caught it.

It didn't take Kagome too long to fix her leg. She had plenty of practice with herself and friends getting hurt all the time. She always volunteered, since she felt a little bad because she couldn't hold her own against any of the demons they fought.

"Now would you like me to try and make something?" Kagome asked after she finished.

Bankotsu looked up from the spot he was lying on. "Sure, you're not going to trip, are you?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him and answered testily, "Yes, I won't trip!"

'Easy now, Kagome. Don't rush it.' She chided herself.

She first got into a kneeling position and slowly steadied herself until she stood up straight. Her legs were seriously stiff and it hurt a little to put a ton of pressure on them.

"Ahh!" Kagome shouted, waving her hands around frantically in an act to balance her self. Thank goodness she didn't fall again.

The rest of the trip to her bag was smooth sailing, sort of. It took her a while, but she finally made her and Bankotsu their lunch.

"You know that was probably the most amusing thing I've seen in a while." Bankotsu remarked while Kagome was handing him his bowl of ramen, carefully, of course.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Kagome muttered sarcastically.

They ate in absolute silence. A rather awkward silence, at least to Kagome. She was currently staring at Bankotsu, her empty bowl beside her.

'Why won't he say something? It's better when he's insulting me. Creepy…' Kagome said to herself, watching Bankotsu scrutinize her.

* * *

Kagura cocked her head just slightly to the left, listening for any sounds. Once she was sure that there was no one watching her, she opened up the invisible door to Naraku's castle. Actually, Naraku's second castle, seeing as this was the one he had in the 'normal world.'

She rounded the large staircase and walked down a narrow hallway. Naraku had told her to meet Kanna here, and she was indeed standing behind the overly large door.

"The Double requests you go check up on things on the 'Other Side.' There appears to be some problems." Kanna monotonically said, gazing down at her mirror.

"What kind of problems?" Kagura asked suspiciously. With Naraku's ego, she hardly could believe he was asking for help.

"It appears that there is some trouble with the two that are in."

Kagura nodded in understanding. It was now her turn to have a whack at them.

"But won't Naraku get mad at me just popping in?" Kagura asked, not wanting to deal with that, _again_.

"I have already discussed it with him."

Of course, Kanna was always on step ahead of everyone else. She was actually the mastermind of quite a few of Naraku's plans.

Kagura sighed and opened up a portal, "Very well then."

_

Kagura wasn't stupid, she could be nearly, _nearly_, as tactful and intelligent as Kanna if she worked on it. Kagura could also understand the one thing that Kanna couldn't, they were being used. They were like toy soldiers, mindlessly following orders, not caring what would happen to them as long as their precious Naraku was perfectly fine. That was how incarnations were supposed to think. Blindly trusting their creator.

For some reason, Kagura wasn't like that. She had immediately seen the lie behind all of his honey-like words and accused him for what he was. It wasn't surprising that she had paid the price. Now Naraku had her heart in his hands, and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing yet, of course.

'One act of betrayal and I'm dead.' Kagura thought to herself with a long sigh.

The portal closed around her, and she saw the Other Side. It looked like a carbon copy of the 'normal world' except with a few minor changes to suit Naraku's needs.

In the distance was Naraku's larger castle. Kagura could see it from here even though she was quite far away. The walls were a stony grey and there was one large door that she could see from here, although there were two others.

Kagura created her feather and sat on it, not in the mood to walk there.

When she arrived at the door she silently opened it, knowing all too well that Naraku knew she was here the minute she arrived. Creepy…

"Kagura."

Kagura resisted the urge to jump and scream, choosing instead to hold it in. Seriously, did Naraku find that amusing?

"Naraku, the Double had requested me to come here." Kagura said, trying to not let her hate for the half demon show.

Naraku gave a sinister smile and calmly replied, "Yes of course, I have already talked it over with Kanna. Please come in."

"And what if I refuse?" Kagura muttered coldly and stood in her tracks, not wanting to spend more time in the castle than she had to.

Naraku smiled at her, a callous one. He said nothing but simply pulled out her heart and gave it a squeeze.

Kagura fell to the floor in an instant, clutching her chest in pain.

"Please come in Kagura," He ordered once more, before walking through the dark maze of corridors.

Kagura soon got up and followed, all the while thinking about her plans of betrayal. 'Soon, the time will come. Naraku won't know what hit him.'

* * *

"Where the hell is Kagome?" Inuyasha asked while appearing before Suikotsu and Jakotsu's shocked faces.

"Wow, this is great Inuyasha! You finally came to me!" Jakotsu shouted happily, earning a groan from Inuyasha.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha glared at the mercenary, "Where is Kagome, when know you have her!"

Jakotsu look appalled. "Why would I be near something as _awful_ as a woman?"

Miroku sighed, watching Inuyasha from the sidelines near Sango. This wasn't going to get them anywhere. Three days, Kagome had been missing for nearly three days now. Sango had ran up to him and started shouting about how Kagome and Bankotsu were gone and had disappeared.

Miroku had been honestly confused. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. A book trapping someone within its pages perhaps? That sounded too strange even after all the things he had been through. The Shichinintai had to have something to do with it.

Inuyasha growled at the two mercenaries. Here he was wasting time with these two idiots; Kagome could be dead for all he knew.

"Look! Last time we saw Bankotsu was when he told us to go find this Sesshomaru person!" Suikotsu shouted angrily, he was looking forward to fighting without anything getting in the way for once. He didn't need Inuyasha bugging them about something that they didn't do.

"Do you have any idea where Bankotsu might have gone?" Sango asked, waiting on the sidelines with Miroku.

"And why should we tell you?" Jakotsu spat out, not intending to give out information to a woman. _Maybe_ to Inuyasha, but not to some witch.

"Because Bankotsu could be in as much danger as Kagome if something did happen." Mirkou reasoned. At this rate, they weren't going to get anywhere and it was just a waste of time. They had already wasted three days searching around the area for Kagome.

"Well, he did say something about going to fight Inuyasha…" Jakotsu said, but then stopped when he received a glare from Suikotsu.

"So, then he should have been around Inuyasha's forest when Kagome disappeared." Sango muttered, more to herself than anyone else. She sat on Kilala, figuring this conversation would be over with soon. Sango knew what she saw, Bankotsu and Kagome started glowing, and then they disappeared. So did that book Kagome was reading from…

"Look that's all we know, I'm sure big Brother is fine." Suikotsu bit out through clenched teeth. They had no clue about what happened to Bankotsu and Inuyasha's wench. Suikotsu was sure Bankotsu was fine wherever he was.

"By the way, you'll never stand a chance against Sesshomaru." Inuyasha said.

"What do you mean by that?" Jakotsu asked furiously. He could take care of himself. It wasn't like he needed Inuyasha to watch out for him, no matter how cute it was.

"If you don't stand a chance against us, there's no way you'll be able to kill Sesshomaru." Inuyasha answered, and Jakotsu could swear he saw him smirking.

Sango narrowed her eyes at Inuyasha. Just what did Inuyasha think he was doing? 'Is he trying to bait them? We don't need to fight.'

"Inuyasha." Mirkou stepped between him and Jakotsu. Things were getting out of hand.

"What are you trying to accomplish by fighting?"

Inuyasha glared at the two mercenaries. "If they won't tell me where Kagome is, I'll have to beat it out of them."

Mirkou sighed and tried to reason with him, "And what if they really are telling the truth?"

Inuyasha was at a loss for words. He couldn't argue with that.

"Fine then let's go." Inuyasha mumbled and took one last glance at Jakotsu, "And if I find out he's done _anything_ to Kagome, you'll all die."

Jakotsu and Suikotsu scoffed at this. As if Inuyasha would be able to take out Bankotsu of all people. There was a reason why he was in charge. He was strong, strong enough to be at a half demon level even with out the Sacred Jewel shards.

"Yeah right, Bankotsu would never lose to you." Suikotsu snarled. "You have some nerve just walking up to us and insulting our leader."

"Come on. Let's go Inuyasha." Mirkou said, trying to avoid confrontation. 'That's the last thing we need.'

"Feh, whatever."

Jakotsu and Suikotsu watched as they all left. Inuyasha and Mirkou running and Sango flying along on that demon cat. How did that monk manage to run that quickly?

After they were out of hearing range, Jakotsu whispered, "Should we follow them?"

Suikotsu looked puzzled. "Why would we do that?" Wouldn't Bankotsu get upset if they strayed from their mission?

"Well, what if they're right and Bankotsu really is missing?"

Suikotsu didn't answer for a good five minutes. He had to think this through carefully, Bankotsu always said that Jakotsu was too rash for his own good. Maybe they should follow… But what of Sesshomaru? Inuyasha did say that they were too weak to fight him, but he hardly believed that. Finally Suikotsu said something he would probably regret later, they were bound to get noticed sooner or later.

"Fine," Suikotsu answered unhappily.

Jakotsu's eyes perked up. "This is wonderful! Now I get to watch my wonderful Inuyasha from afar!"

Suikotsu raised an eyebrow, wondering if this is the only reason Jakotsu wanted to follow them.

Jakotsu brightly smiled. Suikotsu was sure he was going to become blind from the happiness of it, if that was possible.

"What are you waiting for? We don't want them to become out of our eyesight, do we?" After saying that, Jakotsu took off running in the direction Inuyasha had run off in.

Suikotsu couldn't help but smile at his friend's antics.

* * *

They had just been sitting there for two hours. This was seriously getting out of hand.

'Is this going to be like this everyday?' Kagome thought to herself. If that was the case, she'd go insane.

The next thing Kagome knew, She was lifted up in the air and but over Bankotsu's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Kagome screeched while hitting his should blade.

"Would you quit that?" Bankotsu ground out irritably.

Kagome did stop hitting his shoulder, but continued to yell, "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm going to train and I am not in the mood to have to go find you when something takes you."

Kagome glared at Bankotsu's back. "And just how do you know something will come after me?"

Bankotsu rolled his eyes and kept walking, bouncing Kagome around. "Trust me, you're a danger magnet."

"I am n-not!" Kagome shouted, offended by his claims. "And could you quit bouncing so much?"

Bankotsu pretending to ponder this for a moment. "Nah, I don't feel like it."

"Jerk," Kagome huffed. Here she was being carried like a sack of potatoes. She could walk on her own without tripping, contrary to Bankotsu's beliefs.

Kagome's eyes took in the scenery. They were still in the forest, a forest that looked just like Inuyasha's. Her eyes looked down at Bankotsu back. He really was muscular, you could tell even with his clothing on.

Kagome flipped out and blushed at the thought of Bankotsu shirtless. 'Kagome get a hold of yourself!'

She then looked at his sword, Banryuu. It was definitely the biggest sword she had ever seen. Kagome reached out her hand it touched the cloth around it. Her eyes lit up, it was the softest thing she had ever felt!

Just then Bankotsu sat her down.

"This looks like a good spot."

They were in a small clearing, surrounded by trees on either side.

"What am I suppose to do?" Kagome asked. It wasn't like she had her bow and arrows with her.

"I don't know… You could watch me and see how awesome I am." Bankotsu responded, smirking.

Kagome jeered, "As if I'd ever think you were awesome."

Bankotsu winked at her. "Trust me, after you've seen me train, you'll think I'm awesome."

Bankotsu began to train. As soon as he took the cloth off of Banryuu, Kagome had quickly grabbed it and started rubbing on it while he trained.

'Darn it, he's right. He is awesome.' Kagome admitted in her mind, although she would never tell him. Kagome had never seen anyone train before besides Sango, as Inuyasha did all of his in secrecy for some reason. It was amazing. Almost as if he was dancing. Kagome hated to state it, but it was probably the coolest thing she had ever seen.

For some reason Kagome started laughing for no reason. It was just so cool, she figured.

A pair of red eyes stared at Bankotsu as well. Kagura figured she could probably just kidnap the girl, but it would be better to first know what she was up against.

Nearly an hour later Bankotsu was done.

"So, how was I?" Bankotsu asked cockily. He breathed heavily and beads of sweat rolled down his face, he really pushed himself that time. Probably to impress Kagome, but Bankotsu would never verbally say that.

"Eh, you were okay." Kagome said snobbishly, still absentmindedly fiddling with Banryuu's cloth.

"Okay?" Bankotsu questioned, "I'm offended, wench."

"Yeah, will I'm offended that you keep calling me wench." Kagome muttered testily.

"Fine, how was I, _Kagome_?" Bankotsu was willing to go to any means to make her say how good he really thought she was. He was definitely better than _okay_.

Kagome smiled, pleased that he was using her name for once. "Not bad," She admitted.

"Not bad, _wench_?" Bankotsu asked Kagome while smirking.

Kagome sighed, knowing Bankotsu had won this round. "Fine, you were amazing."

Bankotsu smirked triumphantly. "Now that more like it, Kagome."


	5. Shield

AN: I'm sorry it's been over a month, but I hope you like the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and never will.

* * *

Bankotsu had been in this weird, crazy world for a week now. They had waited until Kagome was completely recovered and Bankotsu trained a bit (the first part much to his annoyance.) It was now time to start their official journey to the mountains where they could hopefully find the priestess. Of course that was assuming that she actually existed, considering that the woman who had told them about her couldn't be described as 'sane.'

"Should we really be going on something that crazy wench said?" Bankotsu asked, wondering why they were listening to her in the first place.

Kagome paused for a second to think about it, then resumed her walking pace, attempting, but failing to match Bankotsu's quick one.

She finally answered after some time, "What other choice do we have? It's the only hint we have at this point."

Bankotsu sped up more, seeing as Kagome was actually beginning to catch up.

"You have a point, I guess."

Kagome smiled triumphantly. She was right, and Bankotsu _agreed_, that just made her so happy for some reason.

Bankotsu noticed her grin. "Why are you smiling?" He questioned, observing her with slight suspicion. He didn't think he had it in her to plan anything, but you never know.

"No reason," Kagome answered, continuing to smile.

"Well, quit it." Bankotsu muttered disdainfully.

"Nope, I don't feel like it." Kagome chirped and continued smiling, brighter than before. Bankotsu was sure this was just to annoy him further.

Kagome sped up her pace to match Bankotsu's once more. Bankotsu noticed and increased pace. By now Kagome was jogging, and she had no clue as to why he insisted on walking ahead.

Bankotsu looked at the girl beside him; couldn't she just let him walk in front?

Kagome was breathing heavily now. 'How is he able to do this without breaking a sweat? I've had enough of this.' Kagome tugged Bankotsu's braid, causing him to come to a halt.

"What did you just do?" Bankotsu managed ask while glaring daggers at Kagome.

Kagome finally frowned, although Bankotsu wasn't as pleased about this as he should be.

Kagome simply answered, "I pulled your braid."

"Well don't do it again," Bankotsu said while starting to walk again, this time at a slower pace.

Kagome merely huffed resentfully, before finally adding in, "Quit walking so fast."

Bankotsu regarded her for a second, before completely ignoring her and race walking ahead of her.

Kagome slowly simmered. He had some nerve to just totally pay no mind to her, like she didn't exist. Kagome couldn't stand that.

So Kagome made a rather arbitrary decision, without bothering to give it a second thought, she just turned the other way and started walking, anything to get away from Bankotsu.

It was roughly an hour later when Kagome realized the full effect of what she had done. It was a stupid and brash mistake, and she honestly wasn't sure what she was going to do. She could keep walking and possibly find the well, _that didn't work_, mind you, or she could turn around and go find Bankotsu and apologize. Neither objects sounded favorable, but if she went back to the well, she could probably find that lady who told her about the miko. It might take a little persuasion, but she could probably get her to tell a little bit more about just what was going on.

Not quite sure what to do, Kagome sat on the itchy ground and thought over her choices carefully. Normally, her first choice would be to do pick the one she was better off with, except in this case, Bankotsu would without a doubt be furious. She honestly wasn't sure she wanted to go back to an irate Bankotsu.

Kagome sighed heavily and took her backpack off of her shoulders and filtered through the contents for a bag of chips. It was her last bag, but junk food is proven to make people feel better.

After munching on chips for nearly half and hour, and yelling at herself for eating an entire bag, she decided to set off in search of Bankotsu. Getting yelled at was probably better than getting lost and killed by a youkai. Took her long enough to figure that out.

Kagome had been walking for roughly ten minutes and was thinking about all that happened. Would she be able to get back? That is if they were somewhere else, but from what Kagome had seen, that was the case. It was so similar, yet so different, an imperfect replica.

For example, the Bone Eater's Well, it was filled with water. If it was correct, it should be dry and at the least be able to transport Kagome to her time. Of course, she didn't think Naraku actually knew of this little detail, so it was a plain well. Although she doubted that even he would be able to cause a well to link with another time.

She quickened her pace, wanting to tell Bankotsu of her theory. Plus, she wanted to go back near the well.

"I wonder if there is a mark where Inuyasha was sealed to the tree. Naraku would know about that, I'm sure…" Kagome trailed off, too lost in thought to bother voicing her opinions to the trees.

Kagome froze dead in her tracks; she thought she just saw a glimpse of red fly by. She slowly shook her head, willing the panic to disperse. It was probably a bird, nothing more, she repeated in the mantra over and over again in her head. Was this Naraku's goal? To make her so terrified of the simplest things she was borderline insane?

Kagome smiled cheerfully while focusing her thoughts elsewhere. The sun was shinning, there wasn't even a light breeze, the birds were chirping, the weather was perfect… And she had _Bankotsu_ for company…

Kagome frowned, hearing the loud crack of a twig snapping. Inuyasha jumped in front of her, causing Kagome to scream and step back. Inuyasha caught her before she could fall.

"Are you okay Kagome?"

* * *

"Kagome's been missing for a long time." Bankotsu lazily remarked to himself.

It wasn't like he was stupid; he noticed when Kagome decided to leave him. He just didn't care. It was bad enough that he was in charge of babysitting her when she was with him, do to his damn conscious, when she wasn't there, it wouldn't be his fault.

Stupid women, she was causing him to grow a conscious. It would definitely be for the better if she was killed by some demon. Yeah, it would probably be helpful to have the girl that got them into this mess with them when he confronted Naraku -good shield- but he could take care of Naraku by himself.

Bankotsu didn't see why Kagome figured they should go to this miko. The answer was simple really, confront Naraku and kill him. Then… well he hadn't got that far yet.

The point was, he refused to be the bigger person and go find Kagome. She could go get herself killed for all he cared.

About five minutes later, Bankotsu was backtracking. Yes, he was looking for Kagome. It would be in his best interest to find her because he really _could_ use a shield, he figured. Besides, then he'd have something to hold against her.

He really wasn't in the mood to walk. Bankotsu was in one of those moods were you don't even want to talk, just lay there. He silently cursed Kagome for making him completely backtrack the ground he covered from a large part of the day. Never mind that part of that was his fault for not getting her in the first place.

Bankotsu hummed in boredom, drumming his fingers on Banryuu, life really sucked sometimes.

While Bankotsu was walking, he noticed something. There were a lot of trees in a forest. At the same time, that's not all of what a forest was. There were always other things there, usually a mundane brown. Occasionally, there would be a nice color here and there, maybe a blue bird, or some red flowers. But for the most part, forests were incredibly boring.

Bankotsu scoffed at himself, he couldn't believe he was bothering to think about something as useless as trees. His thoughts wondered to Kagome.

Kagome was a strange girl, to say the least. She surprised him with the things she did, once he thought he would get a predictable response from her, she'd behave in an entirely new way. And she thought he was weird.

The mercenary breathed silently, he had finally located _his_ annoying priestess.

* * *

"Kagome, where have you been?" Inuyasha asked angrily. It wasn't like Kagome to just leave.

"Inuyasha, sit."

Inuyasha was then forced to the ground by a pair of enchanted beads around his neck. He grumbled and finally got up after laying there and cursing.

"What the hell was that for?" The half demon asked, glaring fiercely at Kagome.

Kagome smiled and hugged the unsuspecting Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, it really is you!"

Inuyasha sneered, "Who else would it be?"

"Never mind," Kagome said while shaking her head, it was useless to bring that up right now.

"Now Kagome, I need you to come with me someplace, alright. It's extremely important that you do."

Kagome looked at the half demon in puzzlement. "Go where?"

"That's not important right now." Inuyasha muttered while gently coaxing her into his arms.

"B-but…" Kagome tried to get a few words in amongst her stuttering, but was quickly cut off by Inuyasha who had wrapped his arms around her in a death grip.

"Inuyasha, let go! Not so tight…" Kagome muttered, struggling in his grasp. At this rate Inuyasha was going to kill her.

After thrashing about for a couple of seconds, Kagome finally shouted, "Inuyasha, SIT!"

Magically, Inuyasha plowed into the ground. It was truly a wondrous sight, the kind you'd see in a love story… To bad Inuyasha ruined it by all of his growling.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, she was incredibly grateful Inuyasha let go before he fell, or else she would have been taken down with him. And she really didn't want to think about that.

Inuyasha finally returned from his hole. "That was really stupid…" He snarled through clenched teeth. Kagome recoiled when she saw his eyes. They were a wild and fiery color, the only emotion evident was pure hatred. Those sent shivers down Kagome's spine.

"Inuyasha, sit…" Kagome whispered hastily under her breath.

Once again Inuyasha plowed into the ground.

"Damn it all! I told Naraku it was a stupid idea to get those beads." Inuyasha furiously hollered. Now she had the upper hand.

The demonic Inuyasha sighed; maybe he should try a different approach.

"I won't hurt you; I just need to take you to Naraku is all." Inuyasha said slowly, in some sort of futile attempt to control his anger.

This scared Kagome even further. She quickly tried to dash away, but Inuyasha's reflexes were far more superior to Kagome's.

Just as Kagome was about to say sit, Inuyasha clamped a clawed hand over her mouth, preventing her from saying the dreaded word.

"I told Naraku that the beads were a stupid idea. I think the only reason he did it was because he wanted to see if he could." Inuyasha remarked coldly, while fingering the pesky things on his neck with his free hand.

Bankotsu watched the scene from his convenient perch on a tree. He was certain Inuyasha had sensed his presence, but he hadn't made any moves yet. This caused Bankotsu to narrow his eyes at the demon.

'What, does he think I'm not strong enough to fight him? I'll show him.' Bankotsu thought, making a fist. He was going to knock Inuyasha out into tomorrow.

Inuyasha looked at the miko, pondering how he should go about her impending death. Naraku said he wanted the miko, dead or alive. Ever since he had been created, Inuyasha had been itching to kill someone who would actually put up a fight. He was grateful to have been entrusted with the task of tracking down the wench.

Bankotsu walked up lazily to Inuyasha, carrying a look of indifference on his face.

"I need you to let the damn wench go." He said, the polite tone of his voice hiding the hidden malice behind it.

"And why would I do that?" Inuyasha questioned, grabbing the girl by her hair while still keeping one hand over her mouth.

"Because she's my annoying wench and it's my job to protect her!" Bankotsu took out Banryuu and cut Inuyasha's arm off in one swift motion.

Inuyasha examined what was left of his arm and tried to stop the blood that was gushing out of it to no avail. "You'll pay for this!"

Inuyasha could only curse and hold his arm in agony. There was an excruciating pain in his shoulder. How could he have not seen it coming?

Inuyasha ran up to Bankotsu lightning fast and swung his sharp claws at him, leaving Kagome sitting on the ground, her eyes resembled saucers. Bankotsu saw the attack coming and already had his halberd up by the time Inuyasha came near him.

"Nice try Inuyasha. Maybe one of these times you'll actually hit me!" Bankotsu taunted, while flinging his sword in the air with much skill.

Inuyasha kept swinging at Bankotsu, careful to dodge his attacks. "Blades of Blood!" He called out, sending the attack straight for Bankotsu.

"Damn it." Bankotsu grumbled, while holding his right arm for a moment. That attack was stronger than what he felt the last time they fought.

"What's wrong, can't take it?" Inuyasha mocked from behind, sending a punch to the mercenary.

Bankotsu tried desperately to breathe again, seeing as Inuyasha had knocked all the wind out of him. Bankotsu flung his sword at Inuyasha, but it missed, landing in a nearby tree.

"Hah, now you're all open." Inuyasha said while smirking, casually walking over to the large tree that had the halberd lodged into it.

Right when the demon Inuyasha touched the weapon, it glowed a bright red aura and the tree exploded. Splinters of wood scattered, all around and a good deal of them ended up hitting the unsuspecting demon.

"Shit…" Inuyasha muttered, he really hadn't seen that coming.

Inuyasha growled, nothing was working out. He was badly injured. He had his fucking _arm_ lobbed off. It still hurt like hell, even with Inuyasha's higher tolerance for pain, and it probably would hurt until he had it fixed.

Kagome looked on in horror as she saw a tree explode… in what appeared to be a giant red electric shock. 'I've never seen Bankotsu do _that_ attack before…' Kagome thought while wincing, imagining how that would have hurt if it was actually in someone.

"What's wrong Inuyasha; you're arm finally catching up to you?" Bankotsu questioned while smirking broadly. He had the upper hand now and he knew it.

Causally, he walked up to Inuyasha after retrieving Banryuu. He pointed the large sword right at Inuyasha's neck.

"So, how do you want to die?"

Inuyasha looked down at Bankotsu, his eyes holding unimaginable amounts of anger in them. There was no way he was going to lose to this petty human.

In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha had tackled Bankotsu on the ground and had managed to pry Bankotsu's sword out of his hands.

"How do _you_ want to die?"

Slap!

Bankotsu and Inuyasha simultaneously blinked. Inuyasha removed the annoying girl's hand off of his face, gripping it tightly.

"You seriously want to die, don't you?" He growled, if he held Kagome's hand any harder, it would snap.

Bankotsu punched Inuyasha square in the jaw, sending him stumbling back a few paces. He grabbed Banryuu, who was lying on the ground and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Maybe he'd cut Kagome some slack later for that, maybe.

Inuyasha was busy trying to grab Kagome, who had squirmed out of his good hand. It was hard to catch the girl with only one arm available.

Bankotsu seized this opportunity and stabbed Inuyasha right in the chest. He dropped the girl who he had finally managed to wrap his arm around.

Bankotsu looked on in surprise. "How are you still alive?"

Inuyasha staggered, but managed to keep standing up. "Ha, no way I'm telling you how."

Inuyasha managed to put the pain aside and run at least a mile before finally collapsing.

Unknown to Kagome and Bankotsu, Kagura had been watching the whole fight with mild interest.

'Maybe he could set me free… He'd need work, but he could do it…'

Kagura sighed, and excited the area as silently as she did entering. She had a half dead demon to pick up.

Kagome shivered, she could have sworn she felt someone watching her, but she shrugged it aside. She sighed and rubbed her wrists, she would have large bruise marks there for some time.

"You okay?" Bankotsu asked, looking at her bruises with distaste.

Kagome nodded and said, "What about you, you're the one with cuts. We should clean those before they become infected."

After coming back with her backpack which had been discarded shortly after she found Inuyasha, she pulled out some bandages and rubbing alcohol.

"I just don't see why Inuyasha didn't use his sword at all. It's not Tetsusaiga, it was just modeled to look after it, but still, why didn't he use it?" Kagome asked suddenly while wiping Bankotsu's cuts with the alcohol.

Bankotsu winced, but refused to call out. "It's probably a pride thing. He feels that he shouldn't have to draw his sword on a lowly human. Typical demon thing."

"Really? How do you know?" Kagome wondered.

"Trust me, I fight demons like him all the time." Bankotsu answered, inspecting Kagome's handiwork.

"I though people hired you to kill humans." Kagome remarked, more to herself while picking up the contents of her bag.

"And demons."

Kagome nodded in understanding, she supposed sometimes he could be fighting in favor for a village instead of against it.

"Come on Shield, let's go."

Kagome looked around, what was Bankotsu talking about? "What do you mean shield?"

"That's your new name." Bankotsu answered in mock pride.

"I prefer Kagome."

"And I prefer Shield."

Kagome sighed. She wasn't sure what was better, girl or shield.

"I'm coming," She muttered while begrudgingly walking after him. At least Bankotsu wasn't being a _complete _jerk.


	6. The Mountain

AN: Sorry this took so long, it's just been busy with the annoying thing we call life. When summer starts, you can at least expect sooner updates, okay. I'd also like to think Cassie M. M. for inspiring me to write some more.

Criticism is appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

* * *

"You know, some people call other people by their names." Kagome narrowed her eyes and Bankotsu, who didn't seem to care.

"Think of it as a pet name." He grinned at her, "Shield."

"Kagome."

"Shield."

"Kagome!"

"This can go on forever."

Kagome sighed and walked up to Bankotsu and pinched him on the cheek. Hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" Bankotsu rubbed his swore cheek while glaring at the girl.

"Every time you call me something other than Kagome, I'll pinch you. It's really simple. It's been tested on mice, so I'm sure it'll work on you." Kagome smiled nonchalantly,

"What are you implying, _wench_?"

"You're such a rude jerk!"

"Psh, whatever, _Shield_. Damn it quit pinching me!" Bankotsu rubbed his now sore arm.

"Oh please, don't mind me." Another pinch.

"Damn it! Stop that." Bankotsu sighed, hating to admit defeat, but he just didn't want to hurt her in return, but her pinches stung. "_Kagome_."

Kagome smiled, pleased with herself.

Bankotsu huffed clearly displeased that she had won. "So… How's the weather?"

Kagome stared at him strangely before replying. "It's sunny… um nice, I guess."

They continued walking for a long time. The silence was deafening to the young mercenary. He inwardly cursed; he had become so accustomed to Kagome's never endless chatter that now he didn't know what to do now that there was quiet.

Soon lunch rolled around and Kagome was still silent.

"What's your problem?" Bankotsu finally asked from frustration, eating some fish he had caught in a nearby stream.

Kagome stared at him blankly. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You've been moping around all day!"

"Huh?"

"Listen, I'm sorry that I'm mean sometimes. And rude, and impatient, okay?"

Kagome was silent. The only noise that could be heard was birds chirping and the rustling of leaves. Honestly, she hadn't expecting Bankotsu to come out and apologize like that. Apologizing was one of the many things Bankotsu typically refused to do. Maybe he actually didn't hate her.

"I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I-I just miss Inuyasha, that's all." Kagome looked at him, her eyes appearing downcast.

"Listen, you don't need Inuyasha. I promise I'll protect you until we get out of this place." Bankotsu said it offhandedly, but he had the smallest of a smile on his face.

"Thanks." Kagome said her voice barely above a whisper.

"You know, you're not too bad." Bankotsu admitted while disposing of the remaining fish.

"Did I just get a confession out of you?" Kagome asked, a smirk adorning her face.

"You wish, it's just you're not as annoying as I thought you were. That's all."

"I'm honored that someone as important as you thinks that."

Bankotsu smirked, "You better be, Kagome."

They continued walking for a good three hours. Both were becoming more content with the other's presence. Kagome could make the occasional jab at Bankotsu and get away with it, and Bankotsu was beginning to like her cheerful self. Maybe just maybe, they were beginning to become almost friends. Kagome was ruefully aware though, that once thing were back to normal, they would be enemies. She didn't want to think about that though. In a way she felt like she was betraying Inuyasha, being friendly with the enemy.

Kagome sighed and willed the thought to disappear. It wouldn't do her any good to think pessimistic thoughts. They would get out of there, and things would return to her strange version of normal, and that was all she wanted.

"Bankotsu, how much longer do you think it will be?"

Bankotsu pondered this for a moment and then gazed at the mountains that were becoming closer with each step. "We'll probably reach the mountain's base by tonight. So I'd say we'll reach the miko by tomorrow."

"That's a relief. Soon I'll be able to go back to Inuyasha." Kagome said cheerfully.

"…Yeah." Bankotsu almost sounded angry, but Kagome was sure she was imagining it.

"Once we get back, we can fulfill Naraku's deal. Then he said we can keep the jewel shards."

Kagome stared sadly at him. "You know he's using you. And what about a few days ago, when he attacked us?"

"I don't think that was Naraku. This is some other world, so maybe they just have another Naraku. He didn't seem to have met me before, and I met with Naraku face to face when we made the deal."

Kagome shivered, there was no way she could stand to be alone with Naraku. The thought made her spine tingle.

"I already caused everyone's death once, and now two members have already died again. I'm starting to regret working with Naraku after all." Bankotsu confessed, refusing to look Kagome in the face.

Flinching, Kagome recalled Mukotsu. Personally, she felt safer knowing he was gone. She didn't understand why Bankotsu felt guilty about that, it was their own fault they were dead, that had nothing to do with Bankotsu.

"It wasn't your fault they died, that had nothing to do with you. And what do you mean you got them killed last time?"

Bankotsu sighed, looking glum for the first time Kagome had ever seen him. "Things were going so well. But then, I made a bad business deal. It was all a setup, the bastards ambushed us. All the armies in the area teamed up. Because of me, they all died disgraceful deaths."

Kagome placed a hand on Bankotsu's shoulder. Normally, he would have flinched away and yelled at her. But it felt, strangely comforting.

"You could have never known that was going to happen. Anyway, if all the armies were involved, it was going to happen no matter what. It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could."

Kagome wrapped her hand between Bankotsu's. "Besides, you're trying your best, that's all that matters."

Bankotsu mumbled, "Thanks," so softly that he hoped Kagome didn't here it. Unfortunately she did, because he received a, "You're welcome," in return.

Bankotsu was correct in his estimate, seeing as they did reach the edge of the mountain by nightfall. Kagome just wished he had been wrong. The mountain leaked off a vile aura. Only Naraku's aura rivaled it. There were demons up there, and if the aura had anything to do with it, probably thousands. Kagome was beginning to feel uncertain, there was no way a priestess could live in someplace so tainted. Dark clouds loomed over the mountain, adding to the ominous feeling.

Kagome bit her lip. "Are you sure we should stop here?"

Bankotsu shook his head. "Don't be such a coward. I told you, I'll take care of anything that tries to hurt us, okay?"

Kagome nodded, still not entirely sure. She didn't fully trust Bankotsu after all, and she knew it was the same scenario with him. Still, she didn't think Bankotsu would purposely let something hurt her.

"Okay… I'm going to bed, goodnight." Kagome said, trying to ignore the sense of fear creeping into her and pulled out her sleeping bag.

"Night," Bankotsu muttered, but he was too busy watching the mountain to pay any attention. There was something seriously off about it.

"Are sure that insane woman said she lived in that mountain?"

"Yes Bankotsu, you would know that if you bothered to pay attention for once."

"Whatever, I pay more attention than you."

Not wishing to argue, Kagome rolled over and ignored him, pretending to go to sleep.

Bankotsu sighed. 'There's absolutely know way I'm sleeping with the immediate danger right next to us. And that stupid girl's ignoring me again. It's going to be a long night…'

Kagome woke up in Bankotsu's lap, she groggily looked up at the smirking mercenary, before she smirked and nestled deeper into his lap.

Bankotsu's eyes widened, he hadn't expected her to do that. Although he wasn't exactly complaining…

Five seconds later Kagome's shrieks of terror woke up every demon in a ten mile radius.

"You pervert! How dare you take advantage of me while I'm sleeping!" Kagome had scooted as far away from Bankotsu as possible, and was now muttering things about the perverted mercenary.

"Relax; you came to me last night."

Kagome's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "I highly doubt that, if you're trying to trick me again-"

"I'm not. A demon attacked, and you were all "Save me! Save me Bankotsu!" and then being the awesome person I am I easily killed the demon. Then you said, "Thank you so much wonderful Bankotsu! I would be honored to sleep beside you!" So, being the generous person I am, I allowed you to."

Kagome blinked, and then broke out into hysterical laughter. "You wish that happened. That was probably the worst lie I ever heard Bankotsu."

"It's true. There really was a demon. Several actually. They were no match for me though." Bankotsu boasted his trademark smirk on his face.

"You have such a big head. And that was the worst impersonation of me I've ever heard."

"Humph. I thought it was pretty good."

The playful fighting between the two ceased when the aura around the mountain increased. There was so much pressure that the view of the mountain appeared somewhat distorted. A sense of foreboding that had accompanied them throughout the night increased, making the air around them tense, and their chests tight.

"It's so strong. Do you think it's Naraku?"

Bankotsu shook his head. "I don't think so, maybe…"

"Then again, Naraku prefers to fight as a last resort. Besides a few days ago, he normally sends in his reincarnations." Kagome had an apprehensive look on her face, and tried to remember back to her previous fights with Naraku. The aura had been strong too, but it seemed different. This aura was fully demonic, but it was perhaps just slightly weaker, and seemed to dissipate around certain parts of it.

"Come on let's go, we're wasting time." Bankotsu said while yawning, cleaning up the supplies he and Kagome used the night before.

"I've got it." Kagome said, trying to help with the mess.

Bankotsu wouldn't allow it. "It's fine. You're too slow; we don't have time for you to waste time. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Kagome sighed, whenever Bankotsu did anything nice, he just had to cover it up by being rude.

Slowly, they continued their journey up to the mountain. They made it up rather quickly, not stopping for lunch. The tainted aura affected Kagome greatly, causing her serious pain. She felt extreme nausea, and even Bankotsu wasn't spared from the pain, although the affects were much weaker.

About halfway up they encountered their first demon. Bankotsu disposed of it in record time, with only a single slash. That wasn't the last of them though. Bankotsu had probably slain fifty or so demons by the time they gave him a few seconds of a break.

Bankotsu breathed heavily, exhaustion creeping into him. He cut away at the snake demon in front of him. There were just so many demons, and now they wouldn't stop. Even worse, this one wasn't easily killed.

Kagome sighed, knowing that Bankotsu wouldn't be able to do this for long. She wished she could do something, but she didn't even have her arrows. Even the most powerful human in the world couldn't kill demons repeatedly for the same amount of time Bankotsu had. That hideous aura wasn't helping either.

She had to do something. Sweat was pouring down Bankotsu's face, and there were huge bags under his eyes. He couldn't take this anymore. But what could she do?

'It might just work.' Kagome prayed to anyone that was listening that she could actually do something.

As a last resort, Kagome used all of her spiritual power to summon a shield, like she had seen Kaede do before. She had never been able to create one though, even after numerous attempts with Kaede's guidance. Luckily, the kami were on her side, and a rather small shield formed, big enough only to cover herself.

This caused her confidence to build. Giving her energy one last push, the shield widened, covering Bankotsu and destroying the demons that were coming at him. Kagome would had liked to made it bigger, but she was exhausted, and felt as if she was about to pass out.

Bankotsu looked at her, startled. "Just how did you do that?"

Kagome gasped for breath, willing herself to stay awake. "Some sort… of… miracle."

"Huh?"

Kagome smiled tiredly at him. "I've been trying to do that for a long time… I guess since I needed one it finally worked. Just don't let my fall asleep okay?"

Bankotsu nodded. "I still don't see why you had to do that, you're halfway passed out now."

"Yeah… But there was no way you could have taken on anymore demons without resting first. You were up all night watching for demons, weren't you?"

"So, I can take care of myself!"

"Bankotsu you're having trouble keeping your eyes open."

Bankotsu scowled; there wasn't any good excuse he could make for that. "Fine, but if you get tired let me know. I don't want you pushing yourself more than you already have. It's bad enough I'm doing an awful job protecting you."

"Bankotsu, you've done more than I could ever hope to do." Kagome thought for a second that he actually sounded concerned, but she brushed it off. She was too busy, holding up such a small shield was very exhausting, and she could see why most priestesses would prefer to fight off any demons that came their way.

Forty minutes passed by as Bankotsu gradually became more rested. He certainly wasn't energetic, and he was still tired. But, his heavy breathing had ceased, and he had a much needed short nap. Kagome on the other hand, had worsened, her breathing was heavy, and the barrier had begun to flicker. Bankotsu knew that he had to make her stop before she hurt herself.

"Kagome, that's enough. I'm good now okay?" Bankotsu said in mock cheeriness.

Kagome looked at him wearily. "If you say so."

The barrier dissolved and Kagome felt some of the energy return to her, although it was only a bit, just enough to keep her standing.

Bankotsu slashed through the hoards of demons that had quickly returned upon seeing their prey.

"Are you an idiot? You completely exhausted yourself!"

"Yes, but there was no way you could take them all." Kagome reasoned.

"I would have been fine! Now you're so tired that I'm going to wind up carrying you soon!"

Kagome looked down, she could never do anything right. She wasn't even a proper miko. The simplest thing was next to impossible for her.

"Still, thanks. I owe you one." Bankotsu admitted while hacking up some more demons. The further up they walked, the more powerful they were becoming. Soon Bankotsu would be tired again.

Bankotsu pushed the thought away. There was no way he was going to become the meal of some lowly demons.

He hacked at a rather strong demon that seemed to be drawn to Kagome. Kagome was backed into a side, not having the energy to climb the steep rocks. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the demon disappear.

"Damn it," Bankotsu muttered before summoning one of his stronger attacks. He had been hoping that he wouldn't have to use them, seeing as they took a lot more energy then just driving Banryuu into someone. But the demons were everywhere, there had to be at least one hundred lesser demons, and a good number of stronger ones as well. He couldn't keep this up. They were both sporting their share of scratches and cuts as it was.

"Kagome, I need you to run back as far as you can." Bankotsu instructed, hoping she wouldn't get caught up in the attack.

Bankotsu jumped into the air, pointing his halberd into the sky. Dark clouds were beginning to surround him, and lightning was starting to form.

Kagome looked on fearfully; she had never seen Bankotsu do anything like that before. He looked so mad, the dark clouds swirling around him were adding to the attack. Although, at the same time, he looked amazing. He looked so divine, floating in midair like that, with the wind blowing through his hair. Kagome quickly shook the thoughts out of her head.

'Kagome! What's wrong with you? Temporarily friends or not, he's still the _bad guy_. Plus there a much more important things to think about!'

"Kagome, be careful, I can't predict where the lightning will strike."

Kagome nodded, hiding behind a rock.

"Take this you bastards!" Bankotsu called out, "Ryuraisen!"

Kagome watched in awe as lightning started striking down the demons one by one. It occasionally missed though, which proved Bankotsu right when he said he couldn't control it.

A lightning strike nearly touched Kagome, and knocked her away.

Bankotsu looked fearfully at the girl who wasn't moving. He continued with his attack until all of the demons were eliminated, before quickly ascending down. Running towards Kagome, he ignored the demons that were beginning to appear again.

'She's still breathing, that's a relief. I'd never forgive myself if _I_ killed Kagome.' Bankotsu realized what he had just said, this put a major dent in his plans with Naraku, but he didn't care. The deal might as well had been destroyed by now. He felt so guilty, he hadn't felt that guilty since he got his brothers killed.

'Just what effect does this girl have on me?'

Bankotsu turned around and cut through most of the demons, but he was running out of energy and fast. He would have been dead long ago if it wasn't for the jewel shards. He hated to admit defeat, but there was no way he could keep this up.

No, he wasn't going to die that easily. He was just going to have to suck it up until every last one of the vile demons was destroyed.

A gust of air suddenly came out of nowhere, killing all of the demons.

Kagura came into view, with Kanna following closely behind.

Bankotsu cursed his luck. He didn't have the energy to deal with them, and he needed to check on Kagome. She still hadn't moved.

"Kagura, Master wanted us to dispose of them. Not help them." Kanna's eerie voice said softly.

"I can't believe you're calling that pathetic copy Master. And there's no way I'm doing what Naraku wants."

Bankotsu looked at them, _copy_? "Are you saying that Naraku we saw was a fake?"

"He's another one of Naraku's incarnations. This one's an exact replica. Though, he's not nearly as strong as the original." Kagura answered, trying to feed them information, since they obviously weren't figuring it out for themselves.

"We were sent to kill them. You cannot help them."

Kagura cast a glance at Kanna. "If they're going to die anyway, what's it matter?"

Kanna said nothing and instead pulled out her mirror.

"That's enough talking!" Bankotsu said, running towards them with Banryuu, but suddenly he stopped.

'What the hell! Why-why can't I move?' Bankotsu struggled to move again, but to no avail.

"Soon you will live your fears. If you're strong, you can get pass that. Then the mirror will have no affect." Kanna's hollow voice echoed around Bankotsu as his conscious gradually became pulled into Kanna's mirror.

"Who's side _are_ you on?" Kagura asked, bewildered. Her sister had basically told him how to get out.

Kanna didn't answer the question, instead she answered. "He would have figured it out either way, he's strong. So is the miko. If they're weak, they'll die."

"You know the bastard's just going to throw us away when he's done with us." Kagura pointed out.

Kanna said nothing, but a look of sadness flickered on her expressionless face for half a second. Kanna peered into her mirror, watching the two's nightmares unfold.


	7. Nightmares

AN: I'm sorry it's been so long, but I've been really busy with life issues. I apologize in advance if this chapter's crappy. I struggled with it, but what's new? Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, and I don't think I ever will.

* * *

The first thing Kagome noticed was the cold. It was a painful cold, piercing her skin with a sharp burning sensation. It startled her, she didn't notice it get so cold before. In fact, she had a hard time remembering anything really. She couldn't even recall where she was, or where Bankotsu was, but she shrugged it off, not caring too much.

The scenery was so much darker than it normally was in the Feudal Era, it looked like nightfall, but there was no way it could have been night. Kagome tried to think back, she remembered Bankotsu and his lightning, but that was all.

Kagome shook her head and continued on, her dream self not caring about details. Even though it looked like night when she first started walking, it seemed to have become darker, so dark that she couldn't see anything. It was as if she had decided to just walk in a hole and was buried underground.

Shivers went down Kagome's spine. Something was coming closer, but she didn't know what. A twig snapped behind her and she slowly turned around, waiting for something to just come out and attack her.

Kagome let out the breath she realized that it was just Inuyasha. _Just_ Inuyasha, not a demonized monstrous Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha! I've missed you." Kagome ran up to the half demon to give him a hug. Inuyasha scoffed and shoved her off.

"Kagome, we talked about this. You can't keep hugging me when I'm engaged to Kikyo."

Kagome stared at Inuyasha and blinked a few times. "What? What do you mean?"

Inuyasha stared at her before laughing. "You knew you could never replace her, right?"

Kagome blinked, not quite processing what he meant. "Inuyasha…"

"Kagome, don't tell me you're becoming stupid. Kikyo's always been a genius."

"Inuyasha, I still don't understand…" Kagome looked up at Inuyasha uncertainly.

Inuyasha sighed and took out Tetsusaiga. He smirked and looked at Kagome with a predatory gleam in his eyes. "You just don't get it, do you?"

Kagome flinched as the sword went through her before everything went to black. Everything was so confusing. It made no sense, and Kagome's mind was doing the best she could to sort through everything. Soon, she was assaulted with images, pictures of future events that would probably never happen. There were pictures of her and Inuyasha smiling, defeating Naraku, Bankotsu helping them and laughing with them; actually, being with them. The images quickly turned more depressing. Glimpses of Naraku winning, Bankotsu killing her, Inuyasha betraying her, it was all too much. Kagome screamed until her voice was hoarse.

Suddenly, the pictures vanished, and Kagome was left in a clearing. There were white lilies spread everywhere, and she was wearing an expensive white kimono. Miroku and Sango were standing next to her, equally dressed up.

"Kagome, why are you screaming, the wedding's about to start?" Sango asked, and Kagome paused, she hadn't even realized that she was still shouting. She then noticed Inuyasha and Kikyo, who were standing a ways away. Kikyo had her usual expression on her face, but Inuyasha seemed elated.

After a short amount of time, Kagome was beginning to figure out what was going on. She had to be dreaming, Inuyasha wouldn't just do this to her for no reason, would he? Kagome smiled happily and laughed, causing looks from the others at the wedding.

"I understand. Inuyasha… you don't really still love Kikyo." Kagome said, standing up.

"Watch your mouth, wench." Inuyasha stood up to match Kagome, and in a few minutes, Kagome was sporting a large red handprint on her cheek, that was turning sickly shades of purple and blue. "You were never anything more than a replacement! Someone to pass the time with until Kikyo was ready!"

Kagome stared at him, tears were gathering up in her eyes, but she desperately tried to hold them in. Her breathing was ragged, and she didn't know what to do. Inuyasha was hovering over her, as if debating on whether or not he should kill her. Slowly, Inuyasha stepped back. Kagome mouthed the question of where he was going, but all that could come out were choked words and sobs.

Inuyasha smirked, cracking his claws. After a few minutes, he had fully stepped back to where Kikyo was, and she opened the gates to hell. Kagome gasped, the whole ground was opening up, threatening to swallow everyone whole.

"Inuyasha, where are you going?"

"Where does it look like? Kikyo and I are going to finish the wedding ceremony in our new home. Of course," His eyes glowed and he exposed his fangs. "You're always welcome to join us."

Kagome shrieked as Inuyasha morphed into a huge monster, the only thing recognizable about him were his glowing red eyes. They looked at her, waiting for the right time to devour her.

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome stuttered, knowing that she was probably going to die. "Please, don't-"

"Don't be stupid! Why should I listen to you?" The monster licked his lips. "You've never been anything more than a copy. A useless one at that. Nobody liked you; everyone was just using you for your powers. Mirkou and I even had a bet to see how long you'd last. That's right. Everyone's been using you, and you're a pathetic excuse for a miko!"

Kagome's eyes were wide with fear and tears were streaming down her face. All along, they had just been using her. Did that mean that everything she had ever known was a lie? Those hilarious conversations she would have late at night with her friends were all fake? Inuyasha had been leading her along the whole entire time. Kagome sobbed, she hadn't even realized they were using her, how could she be so dumb?

"That's right. You were just a temporary replacement for Kikyo. And you were an awful replacement at that. Kikyo was and always will be better than you! Kikyo is smarter, kinder, gentler and better than you in every single way. At least Kikyo could defend herself; you're nothing but a worthless piece of garbage that can't do anything!"

Kagome felt her spirit slowly breaking, and welcomed the darkness that soon surrounded her with open arms.

* * *

Bankotsu looked around, not understanding what had happened. He could vaguely remember Kagura, but anything after that was a complete blur, gone from his memory. He sighed; he hated not knowing what was going on.

Bankotsu spun around, hearing a rustling sound in the forest that was only a couple feet away from him. "Kagome?"

The trees were silent. He could vaguely make out Mount Hakurei in the distance, but that would mean that he was back in Japan, and that was too good to be true. There were a few things off, as well. There were only forests and no villages at all. It looked as if the place had never even seen humans before.

There was no answer, until someone grabbed him from behind. "Bankotsu! I missed you!"

Bankotsu turned around and smiled, he would recognize that voice anywhere. "Jakotsu, what are you doing here?"

Jakotsu stopped hugging the mercenary and stared. "What do you mean?"

"Wait, where's Kagome?"

Jakotsu scoffed. "Why do you care?"

"Well, I…"

Jakotsu interrupted. "Seriously, Bankotsu. Do you like that wench more then me?"

"She hates it when you call her that." He interjected weakly.

Jakotsu rolled his eyes. "Whatever, the point is that she's all you ever talk about."

Bankotsu peered at his best friend with a worried look. He hadn't even seen Jakotsu in at least a week, somewhere around there, seeing as he lost count. Still, Bankotsu wasn't too occupied with her. She was just his… just his… something. They weren't really enemies anymore, friends? Not actually friends…

"Oh great, you're thinking about her again."

"_What? _I was not. It's, well, we're stuck in that weird place together. We have to get along, _somewhat_."

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you loved her." Jakotsu snorted and rolled his eyes.

"What? I do not! We're just trying to get out of… wherever we are!"

"I doubt you're anywhere important. You and that slut probably just ran off." Jakotsu sneered.

"Trust me. We're trying to get back. And her name's Kagome."

"Okay, okay,_ Kagome_. And because of you Ginkotsu and Suikotsu are both dead."

"Dead?" The color drained from Bankotsu's face.

"Yep. They needed you and you weren't anywhere to be seen. Renkotsu's going crazy with grief. Actually, I'll probably be dead soon."

"What?" Bankotsu stood up straight with alarm.

"Well, someone has to fight Inuyasha, and seeing as you're busy, I guess it'll be me. Can't say I'm not excited though, I want those ears!"

"Jakotsu, I'll find away back, I won't let you die."

"You already made me die once, what's one more time? Whatever. Have fun with your wench."

"Jakotsu…"

Jakotsu flipped his hair and sighed, his tone serious for once. "Maybe Renkotsu is right; you are a bad big brother."

* * *

After a few minutes, or eternity, with the calming darkness, more images returned. This time, they were surrounding her as if video clips, playing over and over again all at once. There were so many that she couldn't comprehend many of them, but the ones that stuck out the most were pictures of Inuyasha and Kikyo, happy together. Kagome hated those scenes the most, and that caused her to feel so guilty. Inuyasha and Kikyo deserved each other, after all, Kagome was useless, a shard detector at best.

Eventually she arrived in another place. This time Naraku standing in a brown clearing, watching her intently.

"Kagome, I've been waiting for you." Naraku's icy voice sent chills down Kagome's spine.

Kagome tried to muster up a glare, but she and Naraku both knew that it was a pathetic attempt; it was nothing more than a timid scowl.

"Kagome, Kagome, Kagome," Naraku began in a condescending tone. He smirked at her, fully enjoying her fear. "It appears that you lost this time."

Kagome cleared her throat and subconsciously backed up a few steps. "I don't know what you're talking about Naraku!"

"Why Kagome, don't you see? All of your friends are _dead_."

Kagome gasped. "N-no, that's impossible!"

Naraku chuckled and waved his arms around the area. "It's true; don't you see their corpses on the ground? Every last person who ever came in contact with you is dead. And do you know why?"

Kagome looked at the ground and saw Sango's lifeless body and ignored the tears prickling at her eyes. He was right, every single person who had ever shown her kindness was lying their lifelessly. Even the people from her era were dead. Her mother was lying haphazardly, tangled with the other bodies.

Naraku narrowed his eyes, displeased with the fact Kagome would sooner start crying then answer him. "Foolish women. You brought this on yourself. You're responsible for all their deaths."

"Wh-what?" Kagome asked, unsure if she should believe him.

"Of course dear Kagome, they all died protecting you."

"No…"

"And you're next."

"Wait!" Kagome shouted, now shaking with fear and remorse. "Where's Bankotsu?"

Naraku laughed, and the sound seemed to echo off the dead bodies, making Kagome tremble. "I was wondering when you'd ask. Well, who did you think killed all of your friends? I certainly wasn't going to do all of that dirty work. I was only interested in Inuyasha, and you."

Kagome's eyes widened and she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping on a body she couldn't identify. She had thought Bankotsu actually wanted to help her. Of course, he hadn't said anything in words, and they weren't really friends, but, he wouldn't do this. Would he?

"Y-you're lying! Bankotsu wouldn't do this to me!" Kagome quickly wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall.

"You really think that? All this time, he's just been trying to gain your trust. As soon as he believed you wouldn't turn on him, he was going to kill you and your friends."

Kagome glared at the hanyou. "You're wrong! B-Bankotsu wouldn't do that!" She shouted, willing the lies to go away.

The world seemed to crack, and Naraku was frozen in place. Kagome watched as everything started to crumble. First the bodies disappeared, then the scenery. After a few minutes all that was left was Kagome and Naraku in a white void. Kagome cringed and walked up to Naraku, who still hadn't moved an inch. She bit her lip before deciding that hesitating wouldn't do her any good. Quickly, before the opportunity was wasted, she slapped Naraku on the face. Hard. The crack of their flesh connecting was the only sound that could be heard, soon even he faded, and Kagome's world turned dark.

* * *

Bankotsu had been walking for what seemed like forever. He had to find away out. Jakotsu had vanished right before his eyes, and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't fail everyone again. It was already too late for Ginkotsu and Suikotsu.

"Naraku!" The man was standing calmly in the center of a field.

"Ahh, Bankotsu, you've finally arrived."

Bankotsu clutched Banryuu in front of him. "Where the hell am I? And what have you done with Kagome? I bet Jakotsu's gone because of you, too!"

Naraku chuckled and smirked, before wrapping Bankotsu around with his tentacles. He glanced at the mercenary with disdain, and then threw him aside. Bankotsu glared and tried to charge at him, but every time Naraku would either teleport on the other side of the field, or block it with his own powerful attack. Bankotsu hated to admit it, but Naraku was stronger than he gave him credit for.

"Soon, you're going to join Kagome, Jakotsu and the rest of you're precious killers."

Bankotsu glared daggers at the hanyou. "Don't talk about my brothers that way! You're responsible, aren't you? You're the one who made Jakotsu disappear!"

Naraku glared, but a condescending smirk soon replaced it. He let his miasma leak out and smiled, pleased that Bankotsu was having trouble breathing. "Bankotsu, don't be ridiculous, Jakotsu is gone because of you."

"What? Don't lie, you bastard!"

"Why would I lie when the truth is so much crueler?"

Bankotsu shouted and struck Naraku with his halberd. He was getting more frustrated by the second. The guy wasn't even affected by his attacks.

Naraku stuck back, and shot one of his tentacles straight through the mercenary's stomach. Bankotsu stuttered, choking on the blood that was rising to his mouth. Bankotsu doubled over and was kneeling on the ground, gasping from the miasma that was entering him.

Naraku continued, amused by Bankotsu's pain, "You're the leader, yet when your ragtag group actually _needed_ you, you abandoned them."

"I… didn't abandon them." Bankotsu breathed out. He watched in morbid fascination as the blood just kept pouring from his stomach. He should have died from blood loss by then.

Naraku's red eyes glinted. "You're right, even when you were there, you still couldn't do anything. You're nothing but a worthless puppet."

"Why… haven't I at least passed out?" He stomach was on fire now, as it was being eaten away. 'Probably is, damn bastard.'

Naraku laughed, it was dark and sinister, and sent chills down Bankotsu's spine. "I'm just dragging the pain out for as long as I can. I can make you spend eternity like this."

"Consider our deal officially dissolved." Bankotsu declared coldly, looking at Naraku with an expression of pure hatred. His breath was labored, and he felt as if any moment he would pass out.

"It never really was."

Bankotsu flared about, not enjoying the weightless feeling he felt at all. He had been suspended in space for nearly an hour, it seemed. Of course, you couldn't really tell, seeing as there was absolutely nothing there besides the frowning mercenary himself.

Bankotsu crossed his arms and pouted, he was seriously getting sick of the dark that hadn't let up once. He pondered Naraku's words. What did he mean? He hated him, but what did that mean for his brothers? Would Naraku come after them and take their shards? Bankotsu cursed loudly, the only sound that he had heard in a while. He would just have to get out of… wherever… as quickly as possible.

Eventually the darkness subsided, and was slowly replaced by familiar scenery. Bankotsu's eyes widened. It was where they died. He could see everyone laughing and joking around, including himself. The next thing he knew, they were surrounded.

Bankotsu watched in silence, living the moment in his head. They had captured them and the chopped off their heads without even giving them the honor of seppuku. Bankotsu had tried to barter with them, but they wouldn't budge. He couldn't even do anything for their honor.

Bankotsu clenched his fists and glared at the events he was seeing. Renkotsu had been right. He was a terrible leader. There was nothing he could do. They were going to die again and it'd be his entire fault.

Kagome's words from earlier ran through his head. _"You did the best you could."_

Maybe Kagome was right, he couldn't have predicted it would have happened. _'_I'll just have to stop it from happening again._'_

As soon as Bankotsu made his silent vow he woke up.

* * *

"The miko's escaped from the mirror. She'll wake up soon."

Kagura huffed. "About time. If that emotional wreck woke up, then Bankotsu should wake up soon too."

Kanna said nothing, instead focusing on the mirror.

"I'm going to go clear the way to that priestess's place. The last thing we need is for them to be held up by a bunch of demons."

"If Naraku finds out what you're doing, he'll kill you."

"Heh, like that'll happen." Kagura knew the silent agreement between them. If she didn't tell, Kanna wouldn't. It was as simple as that. The sisters had worked that out a long time ago, and both of them would hold their part of the deal.

Fifteen minutes later Kagura returned. She causally wiped some blood off of her face. "Anything new happen?"

"They're waking up. We should go."

Kagura nodded and hopped on her feather, waiting for Kanna to mimic her actions.

Kagome stirred, immediately sensing Kagura's presence. She bolted up from where she had spent the last few hours.

That was a big mistake. Kagome clutched her head to steady herself and pushed her headache to the back of her mind. She looked up at the sky and could just vaguely see Kagura's feather floating away.

A hand laid on Kagome's shoulder and she whipped around, screaming.

Bankotsu flinched back and covered his ears, sending her a glare. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I… it's nothing. Kagura and Kanna got away."

Bankotsu knew she was lying but didn't press the matter. She was probably just freaked out from whatever she had seen.

"Come on, let's go. We can deal with those two later. Right now, we need to go find that priestess." Bankotsu spoke the words gruffly, like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

While walking up the -surprisingly- demon free mountain, Bankotsu took in Kagome's features. There was something about her that seemed off. There were huge bags under her eyes, and the life seemed to be sucked out of them. She looked so much older than before, her youthfulness seemed to have evaporated in the few hours. Bankotsu cringed, he hated seeing her like that. Although, he couldn't really blame her, he was still rather out of it himself.

"I think this is the place." Kagome knocked on a wooden door that basically led into a cave.

Suddenly, two arrows zipped past them. Before either of them had time to react, they were pinned to the cave wall by their clothes. Eventually, they stopped struggling once they realized that they were being held there by miko powers. An old lady stepped out of the door and slowly walked towards them. She had white hair that was tied up, and she wore tattered priestess clothes. The most noticeable feature about her was that she had a huge scar that took up half of her face. Once she saw who they were, her stern expression turned more gentle, although there was still a wary air about her.

"And just who are you?"

Bankotsu cleared his throat, before Kagome started speaking for them. "I'm a miko. We've been searching for you, are you the last priestess around here?"

The woman nodded sadly. "I am, I see you harbor no ill intent. Now tell me, just what is a miko, and a mercenary doing here?"

Bankotsu glared at her. "Listen, can you let us go? We don't have time for this."

The miko laughed before walking up and removing the arrows. "Please come inside. It is dangerous out here."


	8. Answers

AN: Sorry this took so long, my computer's been really slow, so my little brother thought he'd "help" by deleting all of my documents... About the chapter, I'm not too crazy about it. It went in an different direction that what I planned.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha, it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

"Are you sure we should trust her?" Bankotsu whispered in Kagome's ear while glancing at the elder miko.

"Well, I trust you; we might as well trust her. Besides, you could take her."

Bankotsu smirked at the compliment and started looking around. They had just walked into the cave, which didn't look too much like a cave anymore. In fact, if they hadn't seen the stone walls, they would have assumed it was a regular house. Screens separated areas into rooms, and everything was well furnished. It was a nice place to live for being a cave.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please." Kagome smiled, the miko seemed nice enough.

Bankotsu shot Kagome a disapproving look. She really was too trusting for her own good. "I'm fine."

Kagome glanced at Bankotsu. He was incredibly untrusting; he needed to learn to relax. It wasn't like _everyone_ wanted to hurt them. She laughed. Bankotsu was probably thinking the exact opposite of what she was. If you paid enough attention, he could be read like a book.

"Tell me, what are the Shikon miko and the leader of the Band of Seven doing here?" Two pairs of surprised eyes glanced at the women who were smiling while pouring Kagome's tea. The priestess noticed this and laughed good-naturedly. "Please, relax. I'll explain everything in a little bit."

Neither of the two calmed considerably, but Bankotsu did set down Banryuu and Kagome began to sip her tea. They glanced at each other, as if silently asking what they should do next.

"You will be safe here. My barrier is powerful; demons shouldn't be able to get through. But do be careful if you venture outside, it doesn't extend very far out." She had a stern expression on her face, but her brown eyes appeared kind.

Kagome nodded in understanding, she had felt the barrier the second she had walked in. Bankotsu was another story, though. He wasn't expecting that. In most cases, he would have felt sick, but in this barrier he felt fine. The mercenary narrowed his eyes, but eventually summed it up to being a different kind of barrier.

Kagome looked at Bankotsu, and was surprised to notice that he was fine. Her eyes then looked to the jewel shards he had and the brown orbs widened by a fraction of an inch. Bankotsu's shards weren't nearly as dark as they were before. In fact, they were almost pure. She wondered how she missed that, but she supposed it was because after being around him for so long, she just didn't pay any attention to them. Kagome wondered if Bankotsu had noticed. She didn't understand why they were suddenly much less tainted, though, and it puzzled her for the rest of her conversations with the miko.

Kagome and the unnamed priestess exchanged pleasantries while Bankotsu watched, not at all thrilled. He wanted answers and he wanted them that moment. He was impatient, he couldn't help it. This wasn't Bankotsu's idea of what meeting the priestess would be like. He thought they might get answers, but she and Kagome were talking about the weather of all things.

"That's it! Listen; since you seem to know so much about us, then you can give us answers. Do you know how we can leave?" Bankotsu shouted. He quickly stood up and pointed his sword at the miko's chest.

"Bankotsu!" Kagome shouted, stepping out of the way.

"Calm yourself down. I was merely getting to know Kagome. It's quite an honor to have such a powerful miko visiting me. But, I suppose it is time to get down to business."

Kagome reddened at the comment. Then she turned her attention to Bankotsu and glared at him, and he raised an eyebrow in response. At least he had actually gotten them somewhere. Kagome was too nice for her own good. He sent her a signal that basically said, 'Let me handle it,' and Kagome grudgingly complied, although if he was going to be rude, she _would_ step in.

The miko noticed the silent conversation and nodded in satisfaction. "I haven't introduced myself yet I'm Hikomi, pleased to meet you."

Kagome bowed in respect, but Bankotsu just mumbled something. Kagome stepped on his toes and glared. Bankotsu stuck his tongue out at her, which proved to anger her further. Soon they were throwing silent insults at each other.

"I am certain you would like some answers, so if I may interrupt…" Hikomi started, trying to get the couple back on track. She placed a cup of tea before Kagome, and gracefully sat down with one in her own hand and her bow in another.

Kagome nodded and blushed before sitting on a cushy blue pillow. Bankotsu just huffed and crossed his arms, looking in the other direction.

"I'm certain you must be wondering just where you are." Kagome and Bankotsu both nodded. They might be finally getting the answers they had been searching for. "You have guessed correctly in that you're in another world, but you don't know anything about its origins.

"About 40 years ago, Naraku's power was growing dramatically. He was already incredibly powerful, although not at the level he is now. But, Naraku was cocky, even though he had only existed for about 10 years. He still felt that he could do anything he pleased. Naraku was taken much more lightly than he is today, so he figured he would show them all by doing the impossible, creating a separate world."

Bankotsu had by now joined Kagome on the pillows and was looking at Hikomi with skepticism. "How do you know all of this?"

Hikomi laughed bitterly and after a few seconds answered, "Because I'm the fool who helped him."

Kagome sprang backwards and nearly fell over. Bankotsu caught her and glowered at the miko. He was slowly reaching for Banryuu.

"Please, allow me to explain." Hikomi took a couple steps back defensively and set down her bow that she had been carrying in an act of peace. "I was a fool then, the only thing I was interested in was power. Naraku said that I would be known of as the only miko who ever did it. I was so naïve."

"I can see that." Bankotsu retorted, looking at Hikomi with a bitter look.

"Anyways, an alternate world is incredibly dangerous. It's not meant to exist, and it can destroy the real world if left alone long enough."

"Wait, what?" Kagome asked in alarm. That didn't make any sense. Her time seemed fine…

"Yes, if it isn't destroyed soon, I'm afraid it will be the cause of great destruction." Kagome's already pale and worn out face became paler, and she felt as if she might throw up. She had to save the world from two things now, both involving Naraku.

"At the time, I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into; I only wanted power. Of course, it's a long and tiring spell, which takes years to complete, so by the time it was finished I knew the consequences. As a last resort, I placed the book you found in the real world and put a spell in it so that someone might be able to save everyone."

"What? I don't want to go around playing hero!" Bankotsu objected, sneering at the women.

Hikomi laughed wistfully. "You already started the minute you came here. Everything's set in motion."

"I don't understand…" Kagome bit her lip, staring at Hikomi in confusion. Hikomi smiled in an effort to calm the young priestess.

"You're book's being written. You see, the book's a two way spell. The first book details the life of the person who caused the problems. The second book is about the person (or in your case people) who are suppose to fix everything. That's how I know so much about you."

"Maybe your magic is just broken." Kagome smiled at Bankotsu's comment. He was as uneager to fix everything as she was.

Kagome gasped suddenly as realization hit her, that meant the book she had been reading was about Naraku, no, Onigumo. She honestly was just skimming through, and it was pure bad luck she had come across the spell. But still… she knew people changed, but the parts she read about Onigumo's earlier life made him out to be a decent guy.

Hikomi ignored Kagome's gasp and continued on, "You need to kill Naraku, I've bound the world to him, so if he dies, then this world will as well. Of course, right now, Naraku isn't in this world. The only way to get out is to find that book again, or go out with one of his incarnations. Then, the hard part is fighting Naraku-"

"Wait, then how are you still alive?" Bankotsu had his arms folded and was looking at Hikomi skeptically.

The miko sighed and closed her eyes. She knew Bankotsu had every right to be distrustful, but she wished he could be as innocent and trusting as Kagome. Talking about her personal demons wasn't high on her list of things to do. She poured another cup of tea and took a long sip before answering, "Naraku doesn't know that. It's a secret that is known only by a select few village leaders."

Kagome nodded. 'That would explain why that strange girl knew about Hikomi.'

Bankotsu's untrusting expression hadn't ceased. He shifted his weight on the pillow, so he was leaning towards Kagome, an act he didn't even notice. "Why doesn't Naraku know? I thought he knew everything here."

"Most of Naraku's incarnations aren't very loyal. Only two have seen me, and I don't think they plan on telling, especially if…that one has her way. She appears to loathe him."

Bankotsu wasn't convinced. "Then how do humans know about you?"

"One of the incarnations… Kagura I believe her name is. She's willing to do almost anything if it means going against Naraku."

"Why would you trust one of them to do something? They could have told Naraku. You-"

"Okay, that's enough, Sherlock Holmes." Kagome gave Bankotsu a light shove while smiling sheepishly at the older miko. Her expression turned flat as she glared at Bankotsu.

Bankotsu wasn't affected by her words. "What the hell is a Sherlock Holmes?"

Kagome sighed and after a few seconds answered with, "Nothing, just continue," and finished drinking her tea.

Bankotsu watched Kagome. She was too innocent for her own good. She was going to get them killed if he left the interrogations to her.

"If I may continue," Bankotsu was about to open his mouth to protest, but Kagome slapped a hand on his mouth, stopping him. She nodded encouragingly while ignoring Bankotsu's angry looks. Hikomi eventually continued. "You will need to fight Naraku, but you'll have to do it together. Although both of you possess great power, neither of you are strong enough on your own. Together, with the proper training, you could stand a chance against him."

Bankotsu grit his teeth. "What do you mean? I could take him any time I wanted to."

Hikomi ignored him, but was sighing inwardly. "Together your powers would be incredible. If you can learn to work together in a synchronized fashion, you could be more powerful than you could ever imagine."

Bankotsu snorted at that. He was already strong enough, plus from what he had seen, Kagome wasn't exactly skilled in her powers. Although… she did appear to have a lot of potential. He saw what she did to Renkotsu the first time he fought her little group.

Bankotsu started thinking. 'What is going to happen when we got back? If we… no _when_ we get back.'

Kagome was thinking along the lines of Bankotsu. She would go back to Inuyasha of course, but she didn't know what Bankotsu would do. She doubted he'd even think about working for Naraku again, but that didn't necessarily mean that they would be friends. Everything would probably go back to the way it was before. The thought should have made Kagome feel happy, but now she just felt sad. It puzzled her, and she immediately shut the thoughts off to the best of her abilities.

"You are both going to need some training, and I am willing to assist if you allow me. I can help Kagome master her miko powers. And you both need to learn how to use your powers together."

Kagome looked at Bankotsu. She wondered what he thought about it. Kagome herself didn't know what to think about the offer. But, she really could use some miko training. She didn't even have a set of bows with her.

"No-" Bankotsu started to say, but was forcefully yanked by the arm.

"Could you please excuse us?" Kagome muttered before nearly dragging Bankotsu outside of the cave.

"Be careful dears, it looks like it's going to storm soon." Hikomi called after them. She breathed outwards, trying to calm herself. If one thing was certain, she was going to have a lot of work to do.

They stood there for a couple seconds in silence. Bankotsu looked at Kagome's hold on his arm, raised his eyebrow in question, and began smirking. Kagome was busy scanning the area to make sure there weren't any demons, and was paying no mind to her hand.

"Kagome, if you wanted to hold me so badly, you only had to ask."

"What?" Kagome stared at Bankotsu, before it finally registered that she was holding his arm. Her eyes widened, and she snatched her hand away from his arm with such force that it snapped her back.

Kagome yelped as she fell backwards, tripping on her own feet. She expected to hit the ground, but was instead held up by two muscular arms. Gazing up at Bankotsu's amused expression; she couldn't help but find him incredibly attractive despite herself. Kagome shooed away the thoughts that were creeping into her mind and steadied her body, pushing away Bankotsu in the process.

Kagome looked away and desperately wished the redness would leave her face.

"If you dragged me out here because you wanted to make out, all you had to do was ask." Bankotsu had on a half smile and his eyes were looking at her mockingly.

"Jerk, no way. We're on the edge of the barrier, I was just making sure there were no demons." Kagome muttered before reaching his braid and pulling on it.

Bankotsu snorted and glared at her, but his smirk betrayed him. "A simple no, would've been fine."

Kagome looked away, avoiding Bankotsu's eyes. She huffed and stood against the cave wall. 'Why does he have to be so good looking? No, bad Kagome! Just think about Inuyasha, Inuyasha… I wonder what he's doing now. Still, why does he have to be so attractive? No! You can't think that about your enemy. He's your enemy, remember? As soon as I get back we'll be fighting against him.'

"So why did you pull me out here?"

Kagome looked down at the ground, trying to avoid Bankotsu's face at all costs. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think we should spend some time training with her."

"Why? I'm strong enough. I can take Naraku easily." Bankotsu scoffed, Kagome never gave him enough credit.

Kagome groaned and sighed dramatically. "Yes, yes, you are so powerful. Bankotsu, if I recall correctly, if you hadn't retreated, Inuyasha would have killed you."

"Shut up! They were Naraku's orders. If we had a few more minutes he would have been dead!"

Kagome glowered, and threw the mercenary a dirty look, paying no mind to the looming rain clouds. "Oh I'm sure. Besides, as much as you hate to admit it, you're not the most powerful person on the planet. You were killed once before."

"You don't know _anything_ about that. At least I can take care of my self. Someone always has to protect you." Bankotsu whispered malicious tone. If looks could kill Kagome would have been dead in less than a minute. Bankotsu was right in front of her face, and his cobalt eyes had darkened to navy.

"Well if I'm so worthless, maybe I should just leave." Kagome hissed through clenched teeth. Her face was flushed due to anger, and she was breathing heavily. She clenched her fists until her fingernails created marks in her palms. It took every amount of effort not to slap the jerk.

It suddenly started pouring, yet the individuals paid no attention to this.

Bankotsu glared at her. "Maybe you should. You wouldn't be missed."

"Fine!" Kagome put her hands on her hips, shaking out her hair that was already dripping wet. She gazed at Bankotsu, whose clothes were clinging to his muscular chest. In a fit of rage, she reached out, aiming to slap Bankotsu's face.

He caught her hand, having expected that from her. But suddenly Bankotsu's lips crashed against Kagome's. Kagome gasped in shock, and Bankotsu pushed Kagome into the edge of the cave, deepening the kiss. It was forceful, yet at the same time there was a certain softness to it that Kagome couldn't describe. She enjoyed the act thoroughly despite herself. After what seemed like only a few seconds, they pulled apart, gasping for air.

Kagome took in a long shaky breath and gazed into Bankotsu's lust filled eyes. She froze and looked like a deer caught in the headlights, as if fully realizing what had happened. She dashed into the cave, refusing to look at Bankotsu.

The rain quickened in intensity and Bankotsu could faintly hear the sounds of thunder. He let out a large sigh and sat down. He hadn't meant to kiss her. It came out of no where. It wasn't like he liked her, of course not. They were enemies. She was attractive and her shirt had been clinging to her curves, and his body had a will of its own. He was still mad at her, but the kiss had caused most of rage to fly out the window. He watched lightning flash across the sky, not caring that he should probably get inside.

Still, he could never fall for her. She was a pretty face that was all. Soon they would be enemies again. Even if he refused to work with Naraku, he still felt he had a score to settle with Inuyasha. She was nothing. Besides, he was a killer, and she was a miko.


	9. Arguing

AN: I'm back. Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but a majority of things are going to happen in the chapters to come. In a way, this is leading up to it. But, I'm sorry if it's kind of boring.

Disclaimer: No, I still do not own Inuyasha. Can you imagine that?

* * *

Two hours later, Bankotsu came in soaked. His eyes briefly rested on Kagome sleeping on a futon and he glowered. He tried to squeeze the water from his clothes but gave up after several tries. Sighing, he sat down on the cold stone floor.

Hikomi watched his actions warily. She had seen the flustered yet shocked look on Kagome's face when she ran in. The miko had quickly given her a change of clothes and set up a futon for her. She watched as Kagome spent nearly an hour tossing and turning before finally falling into a light sleep.

"Bankotsu, I'd like to have a word with you."

Bankotsu looked up at the priestess and sneered at her. "What?"

The elder miko led Bankotsu to the back of the cave, where they could talk without fear of Kagome waking. Eventually they reached the edge. There was a futon and a small chest, leading Bankotsu to assume it where Hikomi slept.

Hikomi sat down on the cold floor, silently ordering Bankotsu to do the same with a pointed glare. Bankotsu sat on the cave floor, not without sparing Hikomi a scowl. "Well what is it?"

"Something happened outside with you and Kagome-sama." It wasn't a question, and it took Bankotsu off guard, he hadn't expected her to cut to the chase so fast.

"Your point?" Bankotsu's expression appeared bitter and his head was turned slightly upwards.

"Why did I have to try and console a crying girl, Bankotsu?"

'Fuck…' That was the only thing that Bankotsu could even think of for the first thirty seconds. He didn't mean to make her cry, in fact, he hadn't even meant to kiss her. It just happened.

"…I don't know. Stupid girl must be homesick." Now Bankotsu just felt like an ass, something he had been feeling unusually often lately.

Hikomi pursed her lips. "I see. When you feel like telling the truth, please, tell me." The priestess walked towards the front, finishing the meal she realized had been left sitting on the fire.

Bankotsu stood there for a couple minutes, quietly thinking. His thoughts kept wondering to Kagome. Now, things were going to be back to the way they started, with them barely speaking. Any words they had spoke back then were hostile. Of course, he should be _happy_. After all, he wasn't supposed to like Kagome's presence. Somehow, though, over the course of the time they had spent with each other, he had grown attached, a thing the mercenary tried to never do. He only had his brothers, and that was all he needed, even then, Jakotsu was the only one he let in.

Bankotsu supposed that Kagome just had that kind of personality. She was so bubbly and _energetic _all the time, even when she shouldn't be. It was an act some of the time, created to try and make everyone feel better, but when it was genuine, she was amazing. The young mercenary groaned. The leader of the Band of Seven was thinking nice things about some girl. It was just asking for trouble.

Besides, he could never like Kagome, and she could never like him. They were on opposite sides of a coin. She was pure white, and he was tainted black, _evil_. Truthfully, he was probably no better than Naraku.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hikomi coming in. "If you don't feel too guilty to eat, you're welcome to help yourself to some of the soup I prepared."

Bankotsu didn't think he could stomach any food, but he knew he had to eat something. Neither him, nor Kagome had anything to eat in a long time. Not since the night before at least. The problem with Kagura and Kanna had taken up most of the day, and they hadn't had anything to eat since. An involuntary shiver went down Bankotsu's spine when he thought of Kanna. Naraku had never told him that she could do that with her mirror. He shuddered once more when he thought of his dreams. Bankotsu had to get back soon, he just had to. If the dreams were real, his brothers probably didn't have much time left.

Bankotsu jogged to the front area, where a big dish of soup was sitting in the middle. The smell of the clear broth was strong enough to cause the stench of chives and other herbs to fill the cave. Hikomi was kneeling on the ground, dishing out three generous portions of the soup. Kagome was sitting beside her, with her back turned to Bankotsu.

Bankotsu froze, not sure what he should do. He made his way over to where the two were sitting and gently sat down, as if making a sound would destroy the silence that had fell across the cave. Hikomi quickly handed him his bowl and Bankotsu eagerly began eating.

After they had sat silently eating for a good five minutes, Hikomi grew frustrated. "Well?"

Bankotsu's left eye twitched, and all of his built up frustrations rise to the surface once more. "Well, _what_?"

"I'm sure you know the answer." The miko averted her eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"What do you want me to say? I'm madly in love with Kagome? I kissed her because I just find her so wonderful that I couldn't keep away? Well, I didn't. She's attractive, damn it! There's no use denying that. She's just a pretty face, that's all, okay? It was a mistake."

Kagome listened to his outburst, averting her brown eyes from his. She could feel heat rising towards her face, and the teenager turned her head, hoping to hide her blush. She was hoping that they could just not mention it. Things would go back to the way they were in the beginning. Their slowly forming friendship would be wiped away. It was still, in Kagome's opinion, better than addressing the situation.

Hikomi closed her eyes, this was taking longer then she had originally thought. She had no idea the two could be so stubborn. She gathered Bankotsu's discarded dish and her own, before setting them by the edge of the cave to wash later. Hikomi walked away, leaving Bankotsu and Kagome alone.

Neither spoke a word for the longest time. Kagome stared at her hands. She willed the tears that had began to pool at her eyes to leave. Now would not be the time for crying. She stared at Bankotsu's side, noticing his eyes were fixated on the cave walls. Soon, he felt she was staring at him and matched her gaze with his own rebellious one.

"I'm staying for a while." Kagome whispered. Although it was only a whisper, there was a firm tone to it that showed she would not be arguing on the matter.

"You don't understand." For the first time, Kagome could hear the faintest hint of stress in Bankotsu's voice. An almost urgent tone could be heard. If Bankotsu felt it was that important, then he probably had a good reason, but Kagome knew there was no use getting it out of him. That didn't stop her from trying.

"Bankotsu… Tell me _why_ you want to leave so badly. That's all you have to do."

The mercenary's breath hitched in his throat, and an air of urgency could be felt around him. "It's… We just have to okay! You'd think you would trust me a little more."

Kagome glared. "Why should I?"

Bankotsu looked up to meet Kagome's gaze. Then he snorted and picked up Banryuu.

"Where are you going?" Kagome asked uncertainly, she was not quite sure she would like the answer.

"On a walk."

"Did you forget that five steps outside the cave there will be a hoard of demons?" Kagome hid her concern with a scathing look.

"I'll be fine." Bankotsu stepped out the cave. The only sound that could be heard was his frustrated, pounding steps.

Not a minute later, Hikomi appeared. "Kagome, would you care to join me when I do the dishes? It gets incredibly lonely sometimes. It has stopped raining, and the sun's starting to come out."

Kagome would have loved to say no, but her nature wouldn't allow it. She couldn't stand seeing people upset. Maybe it would even take her mind off of Bankotsu. She mustered up a small smile and stood. "Sure, it sounds nice."

Hikomi smiled, now she could finally get a chance to really talk with the younger women. It was something she had been looking forward to since she saw her. Besides, Kagome and Bankotsu needed to settle their differences if they were to stand even a fighting chance against Naraku.

"But, Hikomi, won't there be a bunch of demons?" Kagome looked out of the cave's entrance and tried to hide the fear from her expression.

"Yes, but I'm used to it. Most stay away from me, only the stupid weak ones try anything." With that, they headed around the edge of the cave, down a small path that Kagome never noticed before. They headed to a small stream that went barely up to Kagome's ankles. She was grateful for the change in atmosphere, she hadn't smelled the outdoors since she had come into the cave the first time, but it was surprisingly refreshing. Kagome sat down on the grass, sticking her hands in the clear water while Hikomi did the dishes.

"Tell me Kagome-sama, do you like Bankotsu?" Kagome stopped playing in the water and turned to look at Hikomi. Her bangs hid her eyes from Hikomi's prodding gaze.

"I'm afraid I don't understand…"

Hikomi's eyes shone with amusement. "Kagome dear, do you or don't you enjoy being around Bankotsu?"

Kagome thought for a moment, before replying with an answer she deemed satisfying, "I normally do. But, lately, ever since those… dreams, he's been distant, and even quicker to snap than normal."

"Interesting," Hikomi mumbled while scrubbing furiously at what once held the delicious soup the trio had ate. "Tell me, why do you like him?"

Kagome thought long and hard. She didn't really know why she liked Bankotsu, she just liked being around him. "I can't really say. I suppose I like that fact that even though he acts so mean and rude, he's really nice sometimes. And, it's a front. I don't think Bankotsu's as mean as he'd like everyone to believe. He reminds me a lot of Inuyasha."

"You don't like him just because he acts like Inuyasha do you?"

"What! No, of course not! I would never, I know how it feels. The dream only made it worse."

"What's all this talk about dreams about? You've mentioned it twice already."

"Oh," Kagome's expression turned cloudy. "We had a run in with one of Naraku's incarnations before we came. Kanna, she did something strange. I don't know what though. She didn't take my soul; I know what that feels like. It was like she sucked my consciousness out of me…"

Kagome lowered her eyes, trying to hide the tears that were forming at a fast rate. "It was as if I was stuck dreaming for who knows how long. It's just most of the dreams had to do with Inuyasha choosing Kikyo over me. I've never felt so hurt."

"I understand. You feel like you could never live up to Kikyo." Kagome nodded while Hikomi laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. She blinked back a few tears, but couldn't stop some from falling. 'You don't understand, you'll never understand.'

"It's just ever since I met Inuyasha, I've always felt second best to Kikyo. But lately I haven't been thinking about it. In fact lately, I have actually been enjoying myself. I don't think Bankotsu's met Kikyo, so I don't feel the constant comparison I felt with Inuyasha."

Hikomi frowned, Inuyasha had unknowingly or not, caused Kagome to loose a lot of self-esteem. She hoped that maybe Bankotsu could change that. It seemed he had already started without him even realizing it.

"You seem to talk decently about Bankotsu, but he's a mercenary. He _kills_ people for a living." Hikomi felt bad about baiting the girl, but she needed more answers.

Kagome swerved around from where she was sitting so she was facing Hikomi. She gave her a dirty look. "So what? Everyone has faults! You've all but destroyed the world, and now Bankotsu and I have to fix _your_ mistakes. So don't you dare bring something like that up."

"Just what is Bankotsu to you?" Hikomi picked up the now clean dishes, and began walking, not expecting Kagome to answer.

The younger priestess stared at Hikomi, flabbergasted. She stood up and jogged a bit to catch up to her. Hikomi was already off in the distance, fighting a demon stupid enough to attack her. Years fighting alone had made her incredibly good with a bow an arrow.

Kagome sighed, not answering her question, as Hikomi predicted. She didn't know, just what was Bankotsu to her? An acquaintance, a friend, someone who stole her first kiss, or something entirely different?

They reached the cave in record time; due to Hikomi walking at a pace that rivaled Bankotsu's when he was angry. Kagome reached the futon panting. Stamina was definitely something she needed to work on.

Kagome looked throughout the significantly sized cave and couldn't find any sign of Bankotsu. That worried her, even though she was still mad at him, she didn't want to see him hurt. The last time she had seen him, he stormed out of the cave in a huff.

Kagome ran up to Hikomi and without looking at her, muttered, "I'm going to look for Bankotsu, he's not back yet."

"But, it's dangerous out there. You don't have proper-" Hikomi stopped suddenly. One look at Kagome's eyes and she knew there was no use even attempting to argue. "At least take my bow an arrow."

Kagome nodded gripping the large bow. It was longer than what she was use to, but she'd make do with it. She wouldn't admit it, but she was worried about Bankotsu.

Bankotsu hacked through another demon, enjoying the adrenaline pumping through his system. Last time, he had to protect someone, but now it was just him. There wasn't anyone to worry about against his will.

Bankotsu laughed, loving the fight. The past frustrations seemed to be melting away. Slicing through swarms of demons made his mind empty for the first time in who knew how long. It was refreshing. Not everyday did he fight like this. Demons were everywhere, but the anger from earlier hadn't worn off, giving him a boost in strength.

An hour later, all of the demons seemed to have disappeared. Bankotsu noted this with disappointment. He panted heavily, which took him by surprise. Just when did he become so tired?

'I wonder where the demons went.' The mercenary wondered to himself. He began walking up the mountain. 'I wasn't done yet.'

Bankotsu climbed up a tall tree and scanned the horizons. It was strange, before demons could be seen for what looked like miles. Now, everything was quiet.

Bankotsu stayed on the tree, contemplating if he should go back or not. On one hand, it was getting pretty dark out, on the other, he still did not want to see Kagome. He felt guilty that he shouted at her, but he couldn't tell her that he was actually worried. It was a disgrace to show weaknesses, especially to the enemy. But, Kagome was hardly his enemy anymore. They had both helped each other on more than one occasion, and he didn't want to kill her. On the contrary, he hated seeing her in danger.

Bankotsu pushed up his bangs while sighing. He was becoming soft. It was bad enough he enjoyed her company. No matter what he did, she just would not go out of his head. Bankotsu yawned and shifted positions. The tree was actually pretty comfortable. Maybe he would crash there tonight to avoid Kagome…

Speak of the devil. The girl was walking through the forest with an arrow notched. She spotted him and came bounding towards him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked hotly with her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Trying to sleep. Why are you running around here? It's getting dark." Bankotsu yawned and lazily jumped down from the tree. He stretched and looked at her questioningly.

"It's getting late. Since you were stupid and just wandered off, I was… I thought you might get hurt or do something stupid."

Bankotsu raised an eyebrow. He picked up Banryuu and lazily slung the weapon over his shoulder. "I don't see why you were so worried. You're the one who's walking around alone at night."

"So were you!"

"Yes, but I can take care of myself. You can't." Bankotsu started walking in the direction of the cave.

Kagome caught up easily. She glared at the mercenary, but this went unnoticed. "I'm not totally helpless, you know."

"Okay." Bankotsu brushed the comment off. He knew that she had the potential to become strong, but was baiting her. Actually, she wasn't even that weak to begin with.

"Give me three days to get stronger with Hikomi. Then I'll prove to you that I can be strong." Bankotsu regarded the statement with surprise. That meant staying even longer than he wanted to, but maybe he could at least give her a chance. She could use it, and admittedly, he wasn't exactly perfect either. They would just have to find a way to go back right after that.

Bankotsu held out his hand, waiting for Kagome to shake it. "Deal."

"Hey, Bankotsu… have you noticed how there haven't been any demons?" Kagome asked. It had been making her nervous. From the trace of sweat on Bankotsu, they had obviously been there before, but Kagome hadn't seen one. That was strange; she doubted Bankotsu managed to kill them all.

Bankotsu scoffed. He noticed Kagome seemed incredibly apprehensive about the matter. She was being paranoid. Bankotsu probably just killed so many of them they backed down. "Don't worry about it, okay? It's nothing."

"If you say so. Bankotsu! Does this mean you'll let us stay for a little bit?"

Bankotsu looked at the miko who was giving him puppy dog eyes. He rolled his eye and pushed his worries to the back of his mind. "Fine."

"But just for the record, I would have stayed not matter what." Kagome smirked at him. She could see the cave in the distance and was grateful. She was exhausted.

"Oh, I'm sure. By the way, I'm- Never mind…" Bankotsu walked into the cave door.

"Wait, what?" Kagome looked at Bankotsu, but he brushed her off, muttering something about being tired. Kagome huffed and pouted. She had been so close to getting an apology out of that jerk. She supposed that would never happen. Kagome cursed his stupid pride. A glare marred her face. She'd see how he liked it. If that jerk thought for one minute he could get away without apologizing…

'Never mind that. Tomorrow, I'll ask Hikomi to start training with me. I'm tired of being weak. I'll prove everyone wrong.'


End file.
